Flowers of Forgetfulness
by The Storyteller of Dreams
Summary: It has been a year since the Representative War ended, since Reborn and the other Arcobaleno died. Now Tsuna, in the third year of middle school, has accepted his role as Vongola Decimo. But what are seven supposedly dead people doing in Namimori? Are they truly the Arcobaleno? Or are they simply familiar strangers? An AU starting at the end of the Curse of the Rainbow Arc.
1. Pink Carnation

Title: Flowers of Forgetfulness

Summary: It had been a year since the Representative War ended, since Reborn and the Arcobalenos died. Now Tsuna, in the third year of middle school, had accepted his role fully as Decimo. But what are seven supposedly dead people doing in Namimori? Are they truly the Arcobaleno? Or are they simply familiar strangers? An AU of the end of the Curse of the Rainbow Arc.

Author: The Storyteller of Dreams

Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

Note that I used the Japanese 'surnames first, first names last' thing. Tissues are recommended to have on hand before you read.

-(X)-

Pink Carnation

_Pink Carnation: I will never forget you_

-(X)-

.

.

.

Tsuna had tried and tried and _tried_, but no matter what, he couldn't save them.

It was a bitter reality that Tsuna tried to deny at first. But it was there, Bermuda was right, he was wrong. The only way to win was to defeat Checkerface.

But for Tsuna, that didn't count as winning. Winning shouldn't mean losing your tutor, friend, _family_. Victory shouldn't mean losing Reborn.

The thing was, he's going to lose him either way. It was just a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils.

But he didn't actually considered it before Reborn pulled his hair and said. "Dame-Tsuna."

Except, it wasn't really him, but it _was_. For the first time since the Representative War began, Reborn took off his curse before him. Tsuna, despite all the pressure and bitter inevitabilities, still couldn't believe that the cool man in black who defeated his father was _Reborn_. But then again, he shouldn't be so surprised. While Reborn gave off a completely different feel in his adult form –Tsuna couldn't believe this was the same person who _cosplays_- there are some similarities that he didn't notice before when he first saw him, too shocked with his defeat in the hands of his father. The distinct curly sideburns, signature fedora and chameleon should at least given him a hint on who he was.

"We'll have to defeat him, Dame-Tsuna." He said calmly, cooly, as if he wasn't signing his own death warrant.

"No!" Tsuna cried out, too scared and worried for his teacher to notice that, one by one, the other Arcobalenos had knocked everyone else out. "If we do that you'll-!"

He couldn't even finish the sentence. It was incomprehensible to him; you had better luck in convincing him that the moon rose from the east and the sun from the west than this terrible truth. Reborn couldn't just _die_. He was the strongest person Tsuna ever knew, the one who believed in him and pushed him to do his best, through hell or high water. Reborn was always _there_, right by Tsuna's side when he needed him. The idea that he would someday not be there for him made the future Vongola Decimo's head spun.

He was _Reborn_. Reborn couldn't just _die_.

But at the end of the day, cursed or not, Reborn was human. And all humans die someday.

"This shouldn't be your fight." Reborn said, voice soft, resigned to his fate. Tsuna wanted to scream, do _something_ at least. His tutor was never soft, the brunet rather have a scathing insult of embarrassing comment than this resigned softness.

"It _is_ my fight! You taught me to fight for my family, Reborn." Tsuna protested, anything to stop Reborn from looking _that way_. He had seen it once, after Bermuda told them the truth of the Arcobaleno and it looked _wrong_ on the hitman. "You're my family too!"

Reborn shouldn't look so defeated.

The look on his tutor's face was an understanding one, and Tsuna hated every moment of this. Reborn was sharp and dark, he should be kicking Tsuna for raising his voice against him and tell him to go and fight _now_. He shouldn't sound so resigned, looked so defeated. Tsuna would do anything for his family and Reborn was a part of it. If he could, the future Vongola Decimo would defeat Checkerface just like he did with Bermuda and find some way for his tutor to live. He would endure thousands of spartan training, of bullets being shot his way, if it meant that Reborn would be safe and alive, anything to make sure his tutor, the one who believed in him even though he let him down when the hitman needed him most, would stop looking _like that_.

The look on Reborn's face, his posture, his tone, made Tsuna felt scared as his Hyper Intuition buzzed. This felt too much like-

"One last lesson, Tsuna." Reborn said, voice soft and sad, but filled with pride and conviction. "I'm proud to have you as my student. Whether you will become the Vongola Decimo or not, I know you will be a great man."

He gave a small smile, a quirk of lips that wasn't a smirk, so unlike his usual expressions. "Thank you for making me want to live and fighting for me."

-like a goodbye.

He noted dimly that the other Arcobalenos had released their cursed forms. But he didn't notice nor cared as he tried to process what his tutor had said. No, it couldn't be-Reborn couldn't-this wasn't-!

"Goodbye, Tsuna."

_**No!**_

Tsuna would have protested, said _something_ to change his mind, if Reborn hadn't knocked him unconscious by then, unable to stop Fate from weaving her sad loom.

-(X)-

When he was next awake, Tsuna immediately searched for any signs of the Arcobaleno.

He found none, but saw his Family and friends unconscious on the ground, by the roots of the trees. After making sure they were alright, Tsuna flew away, determined to find the missing people.

He looked high and low for any signs of the Arcobaleno. He shouted their names at the top of his lungs until his throat was sore, flew until he could no longer flew and by then he would walk around the town, trying fruitlessly to find them. But, despite all his hard work, he couldn't find any trace of them. It was as if they had disappeared from the face of the Earth.

_**No!**_

It would only be a month later, after Tsuna practically _ordered_ the Vongola to look for the missing Arcobaleno, along with many other who had closed ties to them like the Giglio Nero, Lal and Varia helping them, and couldn't find them that the future mafia boss was forced to accept the bitter reality that they were, indeed, _gone._

It would take another three months before Tsuna was finally willing to start looking through Reborn's belongings that still remained in his room and find a letter addressed to him that shook him out of his depression.

-(X)-

_To my student,_

_Sawada Tsunayoshi_

_If you're reading this, that means that I had died._

_First things first, __**it is not your fault.**_

_Get this through your thick head. It. Is. Not. Your. Fault. You're not a hero, Tsuna, you don't need, and sometimes __**can't,**__ save everyone all the time. Everyone will die someday, even me. But you shouldn't focus on it. Don't forget that you still have other people among the living that could be taken care of._

_Don't worry about the dead, Tsuna, we aren't coming back._

_If you read this after long months of being depressed then I regret dying because I can't shoot you from the afterlife. Stop being stupid, Dame-Tsuna, and get over your grief. You have a life to live and if you're not living it, I __**will**__ find a way to shoot you from here._

_I know that I always relate everything back to you becoming the next Vongola Don. That was my mission after all and I don't regret it, but if you choose to do something else then go for it. I have taught you to be a great man that I know you will become, what happens next will be your decision. But know that no matter what you finally decided to be, I won't have any regrets because I know you will be alright._

_When I first saw you, I couldn't help but thought that the Vongola was doomed and the Ninth was getting senile in his old age. You were weak, unskilled, an absolute failure at practically __**everything**__. Even Dino, incredibly and utterly clumsy as he is, was better than you were. You have no idea how many times I thought killing you would be mercy._

_But…I did enjoyed our time together. You were utterly no-good at everything, but I still had fun teaching and torturing you. I never thought of how I would die a dog's death whenever your whining, high-pitched voice would scream like a girl at your Family and friends eccentricities. Sometimes…I would get caught up too and forget how dark the world could be._

_If I didn't have the time to say it, I will write it here. I am __**proud **__to be your teacher. You can be no-good at times, but you have improved so much since I first saw you as a helpless, stuttering weakling. I wish that I can see you grow more into a fine man, but it seems I have to content myself with the knowledge that you'll be one someday. _

_You made me want to live when I thought there was no other way but die and fought for me even though I said that you no longer needed to do so. You even fought against me __**twice**__ to convince me that I shouldn't give up my hope in living so easily, a far cry from what you would do during our first days together. For a moment in both events, I felt like a stubborn subordinate being reprimanded by his boss. An incredible feat, considering that only the Ninth and Luce could make me feel that way. You changed so much, Tsuna, and for the better._

_You made me want to live and fought for me, and for that, I thank you. Now you need to live without my help, but I know that you have friends and Family willing to help you, if they aren't already. You will be fine, I know._

_Carpe diem, Tsuna._

_Your tutor,_

_Reborn_

-(X)-

It was Dino, who stayed in Namimori to support his sworn younger brother, who found him later, curled up in Reborn's corner of his room, crying. The Cavallone Don didn't say a word, but sat next to Tsuna and hugged him, comforting him in the only way he could right now. Tsuna grabbed his shoulders and cried into his shirt and Dino closed his eyes as he held his little brother close to avoid seeing the evidence of the hitman's presence in this room.

Despite how people forgot, Reborn was his tutor too.

"T-there's a letter for you." Tsuna eventually said, voice raw from his sore throat and eyes rimmed red.

Dino took his letter wordlessly and read it in silence. His hands trembled minutely as he read every word and his eyes were filled with tear and understanding when he next looked at Tsuna. They didn't show their letters to the other, but they both knew Reborn was proud of them. That only made the fact that they failed to help him when he needed it the most more bitter.

Wordlessly, they held each other and cried, letting their pent-up grief spilled as they finally allow themselves to mourn the loss of the man who had practically raised them from their no-good statuses to be great men, much more than either of their fathers had ever done for them.

Reborn gave them their Families and friends, taught them to be strong and never despair. He was there for them, _always_. It wasn't _fair_ that he had to die like this.

But when had life ever been fair?

-(X)-

On some days, Tsuna wished for time to stop.

It was inevitable for things to change, and Reborn's death, while sad, was exactly that: _change_. Just like when the hitman first appeared in his home and smacked him to the floor, this change caught Tsuna unawared. He denied this change, tried to rebel against it, but just like how he got used to Reborn's spartan teaching methods, he, too, got used to the fact that Reborn would no longer be waking him up with a hammer everyday.

On some days, Tsuna wished for time to stop because he didn't want the pain to heal.

Time heals all wounds, they say. What they didn't say was whether it was a good thing or not. Tsuna wasn't a masochistic, but the pain of Reborn's death, while hurtful, reminded Tsuna that the hitman once existed, that he wasn't a figment of his imagination. Tsuna feared that he would someday forget Reborn.

And, in a twisted way, the pain was, in Tsuna's mind, a way to atone for what he couldn't do before, who he couldn't save.

But he knew how Reborn would react to that. _Stop being stupid, Dame-Tsuna, and get over your grief._ Even after he had died, Reborn still managed to teach him an important lesson. He had other people to live for and a life to live. He couldn't care for them properly if he was still stuck in regrets and remorse. So Tsuna, grudgingly, let time heal the pain of Reborn's death until it was numbed to sadness and the occasional regret, a lingering reminder of how weak he was and how he needed to be stronger to protect the ones he cared about.

On some days, like today, Tsuna wished for time to stop.

He couldn't believe his eyes, as a teen his age with incredibly familiar spiky black hair and curly sideburns entered his class with an equally familiar blond with blue camo headband. It couldn't be possible, he thought, as the teen's dark eyes looked around the classroom curiously, not really paying attention to the teacher. He could see Hayato nearly fell out of his seat and Takeshi's eyes widened in surprise. Tsuna guessed that he also held the same shocked expression as he saw the new student of class 3-A.

"Chaos, my name is Corvino Noel."

_Reborn!?_

-(X)-

This is _supposed_ to be a three-shot, maybe four-shot, but somewhere along the way, the plot bunny inside my head evolved into a rabid rabbit and tossed me _more_ ideas. This will probably be updated slowly, as my focus will be on Wishing Star (please read that by the way!), and it should be short anyway (I don't really know…the rabid plot rabbit is still somewhere in my head…). Reviews will be nice and I accept any form of review, be it flames, critics, insults or the occasional two words phrases!

Fun Facts:

Noel is Leon spelled backwards; it is also the alternative name for _Christmas_. The ultimate Latin, which Italian came from, origin is the phrase nātālis (diēs), _"day of birth"._

Corvino means "raven" in Italian (granted, I used Google Translate for this). It refers to Reborn's dark hair and eyes colour. Also, ravens are often _associated_ with _death_ (him being a hitman), _but it is also a trickster, protector, teacher and bringer of great magic _(his roles with Tsuna). It is also said to _foretell war_ (the Representative War) and is thought to be the _most prophetic of all birds_ (his ability to see whether Tsuna would win a battle or not and often saying that it's Tsuna's destiny to become the Vongola Decimo). Furthermore, it is said to be a _protector of seers and clairvoyants_ (his relationship with Luce, Aria and Uni).

Funnily enough, I didn't notice that Noel is Leon spelled backwards until after the fact. I was thinking of what name would fit Reborn then, and for some reason I thought that a name relating to Christmas would fit. I searched my head and ended up with Noel, which I thought was a Christmas _tree_ rather than the _other name for said holiday_ until I later checked on the internet. Same goes for Corvino. I picked that because it sounded cool in my head and fitting for the Reborn appearance wise (dark, you know). Then I check online for what ravens symbolizes and it turns out it fits _a lot_ with Reborn. My head is _weird_ for being able to do these stuff…but that's alright! It helps a lot to research for names when you want to give characters one.


	2. Mixed Zinnia

Title: Flowers of Forgetfulness

Summary: It has been a year since the Representative War ended, since Reborn and the Arcobalenos died. Now Tsuna, in the third year of middle school, had accepted his role fully as Decimo. But what are seven supposedly dead people doing in Namimori? Are they truly the Arcobaleno? Or are they simply familiar strangers? An AU of the end of the Curse of the Rainbow Arc.

Author: The Storyteller of Dreams

Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

It seemed a lot of people cried last chapter, well, your hearts may be continued to be constricted in this chapter. The angst continues, sorta, I leave that to your discretion. Well, the _feels_ definitely will continue! Originally, I wanted to do this chapter from Noel's point of view, but I changed my mind. Why not keep the mystery up while it last, eh?

-(X)-

Chapter 2: Mixed Zinnia

_Mixed Zinnia: Thinking of an absent friend_

-(X)-

.

.

.

Tsuna couldn't breathe, couldn't listen to anything else, too shell-shocked to even think. That dark-haired boy-_he couldn't be_-_could he be_-but that's not _possible_-is it?

_**Reborn?**_

"Chaos, my name is Corvino Noel." The dark-haired boy said, coal-black eyes coolly peering at them curiously from underneath the brim of an _achingly_ familiar fedora.

It has to be Reborn, Tsuna thought, frantic and so hopeful it _hurts_. Who else wears that familiar fedora, have those distinctive curly sideburns? But as Corvino's black eyes roam the classroom and passed him like it passed the rest of his classmates, not even once glinting in recognition, Tsuna's hope faltered. Reborn would recognize him, right?

He would, the brunet assured himself, but Corvino didn't recognize him. What was he supposed to make of _that?_

His head spun, too confused with the new students appearances. Corvino looked too much like Reborn to be a coincidence (_right?_) and the blond beside him looked just as much as Colonello as the former was with his tutor. They looked so alike, the only difference being that they were teens instead of babies or adults. Hell, Corvino even used the same _greeting_ as Reborn.

"Hey, I'm Altair Alexander! But just call me Alex, kora!" The blond that looked like a foreigner said cheerfully. Tsuna's breath hitched. He even used the same verbal tic as Colonello.

Was this real? Are they really who he thought, who he _hoped_, they are?

_Reborn? Colonello? Is it really you two?_

Tsuna wanted to shout, ask them if they really are the dead Arcobalenos. But as the teacher assigned their seats and Corvino sat next to him, not even once glancing at him, treating him as if he was a stranger, the brunet couldn't find the courage in him to ask. Oh, he wanted to ask, but he couldn't, too afraid that his hopes would be dashed and he would be left with the bitter truth that Reborn was truly dead and not coming back.

_Even now, after everything, I'm still Dame-Tsuna, am I?_

But this time, he _couldn't_ be Dame-Tsuna. Not when there's hope that Reborn was still alive, right there in front of him. Not when this might be his chance to make up for what he couldn't do last year. Not when he could finally meet his tutor again after long months of mourning his death.

So Tsuna took a deep breath and before he could let himself think, he looked at the new student and speak.

"Hi, I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi."

And just as he feared, those familiar black eyes looked at him, not recognizing who he was, painfully dashing his hopes.

-(X)-

It was lunch time now. Despite the relative peace and break from all the tedious schoolwork, Tsuna couldn't find it in himself to relax.

He was painfully aware of everything, as if he was in battle, his Hyper Intuition blazing up and pointing out things he would normally never notice. The brunet was sure his eyes were molten amber now, instead of its regular brown. His body was tense, as if in anticipation of a fight.

Except there were no fights, no conflicts. Just two new students to Namimor Middle School that threw his world off its axis…again.

_That's what Reborn did, when he first smacked me to the floor and introduced himself as a hitman home tutor._

_I never thought I'll experience it again. In a way, it's fitting, I suppose._

There was irony in that, Tsuna was sure-though he couldn't find any-that let him laugh a bitter laugh.

He was alone right now, wandering aimlessly around the school. Hayato was busy resupplying his dynamite stock and Takeshi was with his baseball club members. Meanwhile, the girls were having lunch together in class, where he didn't feel like staying. Hibari was most likely with the Disciplinary Committee or sleeping on the rooftop again, but in the high school buildings now, away from Tsuna and the others (though he still made the occasional visits). The Shimon Family offered him to join them in their lunch, but he declined. His mind was too filled with thoughts for him to want the company of others.

Suddenly, he turned a corner, his Hyper Intuition abuzz. There was trouble in the direction he was heading, he could sense, but it was important that he did this. Someone was counting on him, and Tsuna, being the nice guy that he was, has to help.

Besides, Tsuna needs a good fight to clear his mind right now. The thoughts whirling in his head were too full of painful hope and trepidation for him to make sense of any of them.

However, what he saw when he turned the corner wasn't what he expected.

There was Corvino again, this time surrounded by a trio of classmen from another class. The brunet recognized them as being bullies, the same people who beaten him up when he was in middle school prior to Reborn's death actually. They stopped bullying and harassing him since then, mostly because during the months he was mourning the hitman's disappearance, in a mix of negative emotions, Tsuna lashed out at them when they tried to bully him again. The brunet apologized to them later, of course, but they never troubled Tsuna ever again since then.

He could see that they backed the dark-haired boy to the wall, cornered him so he couldn't escape. They leered at him, eyes greedy and malicious, and Tsuna had no doubts that they were trying to harass the new student. However, despite being cornered, Corvino's eyes, while there was a hint of fear, were gleaming with defiance. The dark-haired boy knew what was going to happen, but he wasn't willing to lie and roll over for them. No, he was going to fight back, even though he knew he would inevitably lose.

In a way, it reminded Tsuna of Reborn. The thought made his heart ached with regrets and the brunet balled his hands into fists, determined to help out.

"Why don't you just give us your money and you can go free, eh?" One of them said, smirking at the new student.

Corvino merely smirked back, hiding his fear so well that, if Tsuna wasn't trained by the greatest hitman in the world, the brunet would have bought that confident front. "I'm sorry, what did you say? I don't understand idiot-speak."

"Is he calling us idiots!?" A second student said, sneering at him. The expressions on their faces were now one of rage and Tsuna hoped that the dark-haired boy wouldn't taunt them anymore. They both knew that doing so would result in a beating.

Of the bullies, of course, not Corvino. At least not if Tsuna could help it.

"Of course not." Corvino said, voice thickly laced with sarcasm. "You guys are geniuses of Einstein's level, after all. Surely you guys _would_ understand what I meant."

"Is he messing with us!?" The third exclaimed, hands turned to fists and glaring at the new student.

The dark-haired boy gave a sardonic smirk. "Now why would you think that? Did that single cell in your head you call brain even able to detect sarcasm?"

"He is!" The first student realized, sending a fierce glare towards the new student. "You think you're so smart!?"

"Well, yes, yes I do." Corvino replied dryly, smirking cheekily.

Tsuna wanted to smack his head to the wall when he heard the dark-haired boy, repeatedly too. The brunet groaned quietly, you shouldn't anger the one who's threatening you!

The student who spoke first snarled, throwing a fist at him. "Well what do you think of _this_, smartass!?"

Corvino tried to dodge, but he was cornered. The punch landed solidly on his stomach, toppling him to the ground, where he laid groaning at the hit. Suddenly, Tsuna felt that he was seeing his tutor being strike down, dead. The brunet never knew how Reborn died and it was a subject of many nightmares, wondering whether he died painfully or not. Seeing this felt like one of his nightmares had come true, making him feel anger and helplessness. The students around Corvino cheered at the first student, while Tsuna's fists shook in anger.

Then, the bullies rounded up on the new student, ready to attack the defenseless teen, and Tsuna _snapped_.

_I won't let it happen again!_

Tsuna couldn't exactly remember what happened next. He remembered anger at the bullies, he remembered bits of the fight, but that was all. The fight, if it could be called that, ended much too quickly for his mind to registered it had even occurred. His body just moved on instinct, protecting the new student from a beating. Now, when the fight was over, his mind was able to register events again and he could see that the bullies were gone, running away with their tails between their legs so to speak.

Tsuna blinked at the sight, slightly confused, before he sighed in faint realization of what had happened. He didn't like to fight, but it was necessary to protect people. Shaking his head, the brunet turned to looked at the downed student.

"Are you alright, Corvino-san?" Tsuna asked, holding out a hand to help the other up.

"I-what?" The dark-haired boy blinked, looking surprised that he spoke to him. "Oh, I'm fine. What about you? You're the one fighting them."

The brunet smiled as the new student accepted his hand and let himself be pulled up. "I'm fine, don't worry about me."

"Yeah, I guess I shouldn't worry about you." Corvino blinked again, taking his hand back, before he let out a grin, suddenly looking excited. "That was _incredible_! Where did you learn that? I never seen anyone fight that well, except Feng-nii!"

Tsuna blinked, not really expecting that. He let out a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. "Ah…you can say that I had a _really_ spartan tutor. He pounded into me how to fight."

"Wow, must be one hell of a tutor. You were so strong; you beat them without breaking a sweat!" The dark-haired boy grinned and Tsuna suddenly have trouble imagining this teen as his tutor. "I can't believe it; you don't look like you can fight. But I guess appearances can be deceiving."

Tsuna got the mental image of Reborn, easily kicking him on the head, as Corvino said that. Yes, appearances _could_ be deceiving.

The brunet really has no idea on what to do. The dark-haired boy was acting differently than what he expected, than what Reborn would act like. Sure, when he was cornered by those bullies and could still smirk and taunt them, Tsuna could see Reborn. But now, with the unexpected praises and openness, Corvino looked less like the dark hitman and more like…

….Like a normal teen.

Suddenly, Tsuna felt disappointment, the crashing of a painful hope. He _knew _that Reborn was dead, that he wasn't coming back. So why did he want this new student to be his tutor, why did he hoped for what he knew was impossible?

"…Hey, are you really alright?" Corvino's voice shook him out of his sad state.

"…I'm fine." He replied, managing a smile. It must have not looked convincing by the way the other frowned. "_Really_. I was just thinking of something."

"Want to share that thought then?" The dark-haired boy offered. "I heard that a having an ear to listen to your problems do wonders to help. Besides, you helped me out, let me help you."

Tsuna hesitated, a part of him wanted the other to stay, to listen. Corvino felt familiar to him, even though Tsuna now knew that there was no way he knew him before meeting him today. The other part wanted to selfishly keep this thought to himself, to keep the pain with him. But he knew how Reborn would react to that. The hitman would beat him up and tell him to stop being an idiot and sort out his problems, usually helping him do so. After a moment of indecision, Tsuna nodded, mind made up.

"Ok." He said, nodding. "But let's go somewhere else first."

-(X)-

They were on the rooftops now, sitting down on the floor. Tsuna sat, leaning against the wall as he felt a calming breeze blew past. The rooftop was empty save for them. Normally, he and his friends would have lunch here, but today none of them were here, leaving the place quiet and private, which was good for the brunet. He doesn't feel like he has the energy to handle his friends and Family eccentricities.

"So." The source of his recent confusion and trouble started, sitting cross-legged in front of him. "What's wrong?"

Tsuna brought his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. "I…it's a long story."

Corvino shrugged. "Take your time, Sawada."

That brought a slight frown to his face. "Tsuna. Just call me Tsuna."

"Only if you call me Noel." The other replied.

The brunet nodded, sighing. "Fine."

That caused a grin to emerge on Noel's face, but it quickly faded away when he saw the brunet. Tsuna was still looking so withdrawn, so sad. He spoke, voice gentle. "Hey…what's wrong, Tsuna?"

The brunet shook his head, he couldn't speak. Suddenly, Tsuna felt that he just wanted the world to swallow him up and forget him. His mind was a mess, his heart was torn between the bitter truth and painful hope and he felt drained of energy. Today was _such_ a mess. He supposed he was still Dame-Tsuna for believing in stupid, impossible things.

He heard a sigh, then suddenly he felt a whirl of wind. The brunet blinked, confused, before he looked up, curious of what the other had done. He couldn't, however, believe what he saw, eyes widening in shock and disbelief, jaw dropping slightly.

"Chaos, I'm Professor Noelyama, a guidance counselor. You can tell me all your problems, I won't tell anyone else. And don't worry, I'll help you to the best of my abilities, I specialize in hopeless cases, after all."

Tsuna blinked, trying to see if his eyes made a mistake. Nope, Noel was still there, cosplaying as a doctor, complete with the white lab coat. He looked at the dark-haired boy incredulously.

_**Cosplay!?**_

It was so ridiculous. No, this entire _situation_ was ridiculous. Tsuna stared at Noel, uncomprehending, before he slowly started to giggle, it turned into a chuckle, then into a loud, slightly maniacal laughter. He couldn't believe it! _Cosplay_. That was so-_so_ _Reborn_. It was what the hitman would have done, he knew. He liked to drive him insane with his strange antics.

Tsuna laughed, laughed as if he never laughed before. His heart _hurts_, yet he still laughed. There was something funny in this situation. Yes, it was funny, that the one who looked _so much_ like Reborn would even do the same antic. Yet Noel _wasn't_ Reborn and that fact _hurts_. He wanted to scream, to shout at how unfair life was, but all he could do was laugh, laugh madly until his stomach hurt and yet he still continued to do so.

"Tsuna." A warm hand touched his shoulder, and Tsuna suddenly realized that he was crying. He laughed at that too.

"You look so much like him." The brunet said, through laughter and tears. He laughed, but it felt like he was crying. "You and Altair. Both of you looks so _much _like _them_."

"Like who?" Noel asked, voice careful and gentle.

Suddenly, Tsuna stopped laughing, turning quiet. His brown eyes, the molten amber having washed out with his tears, showed his pain and grief.

"Like who?" The other boy repeated, careful and gentle, but a bit firm.

Tsuna sobbed, suddenly diving for the other boy's shirt. Somehow, Noel managed to change back into his school uniform. The brunet's tears quickly stained the other's shirt, but Noel merely sighed and patted his back. He could sense that Tsuna needed someone to comfort him.

"R-Reborn...you look so much like him." Tsuna sobbed into his shirt. "A-Altair looks like Colonello. H-he even used the sa-same verbal tic."

Noel continued patting the other's back, even though he was getting uncomfortable with the crying teen. "And what happened to them?"

Tsuna sobbed once more, crying, his tears spilling, and Noel sighed again, letting the other cry for a moment. Eventually, the brunet answered, his voice raw from crying and laughing.

"T-they died…"

Tsuna could feel the hand patting his back stilled for a moment, shocked, but the brunet didn't register it. Then suddenly, he was pushed away from Noel, the dark-haired boy gripping his shoulders and held him an arm-length away. Tsuna hiccupped, red rimmed eyes looking at Noel's coal black in confusion and pain.

"I think I get it." Noel said, voice careful, mindful of his current state of mind, yet firm. "You're sad because they're gone and never coming back. You hoped that we are them, but the truth is, we're _not them_."

Tsuna's hiccups increased at that, nearly developing back into tears, eyes downcast. Noel was right, that was what he felt. How useless, how utterly _Dame-Tsuna _like. He shouldn't have brought his hopes up.

Suddenly, he was slapped upside the head. Tsuna jerked his head back, surprised, and looked at the other boy, confused.

Noel looked faintly surprised and confused too, but it vanished before he could think too much on it. The other boy frowned slightly at his tear-stricken face. "Look, we're _not them_. You have to accept that and move on. What are they to you?"

Confused at his question, Tsuna answered. "Family and friend."

"Then if they're family and friend, wouldn't they hate seeing you like this?" Noel asked. "Wouldn't they want to see you live instead of clinging on to false hopes?"

_Stop being stupid, Dame-Tsuna, and get over your grief_

Slowly, recalling Reborn's letter, Tsuna nodded.

"See?" Noel said, letting go of his grip on his shoulders. He looked at Tsuna questioningly.

"I-I think I get what you're trying to say…" The brunet said slowly, softly. "They're gone now. I shouldn't be mistaking others for them."

"Yes." Noel nodded. The other boy checked his cellphone, looking at the time. "Looks like we have to head back to class soon. Are you feeling better?"

"Y-yes…I think so." Tsuna replied, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. He looked at Noel and saw his stained shirt. "Ah, I'm sorry!"

The other boy waved it off. "It's fine, Tsuna. It just got a bit wet."

"We should get going now." The dark-haired boy said, standing up. He began walking towards the door, giving Tsuna some time to regain his bearings, but before he opened it, he glanced back at him. "Oh, and Tsuna?"

"Yes?"

"Don't worry about the dead, Tsuna, they aren't coming back."

And with that, Noel left, not seeing how Tsuna's eyes go wide. The brunet was confused and shocked. Those were the same words as in his letter.

_Don't worry about the dead, Tsuna, we aren't coming back._

-(X)-

And here's chapter 2! What do you think of it? I got so happy seeing all your reviews that I ended up making this. Oh yeah, I made a mind map for this story and I could tell you that there's going to be _3 _arcs to this story. This is the first arc, Halycon Days. I dunno how many chapters this would end up having.

_**Please leave a review! More reviews = faster updates!**_

Fun Facts:

Altair means _bird_. It is also the _brightest star in the constellation of Aquila_, which means _the Eagle_ (reference to Falco, who is also a bird of prey). Altair is also one of the main characters for one of the Assassin's Creed games.

Alexander means _'man's defender, warrior'_. I got the feeling that Colonello is more of a protector than a hitman or killer like Reborn and Fon, hence the name. Also, history described Alexander the Great as a man filled with impulsive energy and great physical courage. The shortened version, Alex, is a common name in the Western world (I think).

Thank you for reading! See you next chapter!

The Storyteller of Dreams


	3. Forget-Me-Not

Title: Flowers of Forgetfulness

Summary: It has been a year since the Representative War ended, since Reborn and the Arcobalenos died. Now Tsuna, in the third year of middle school, has accepted his role fully as Decimo. But what are seven supposedly dead people doing in Namimori? Are they truly the Arcobaleno? Or are they simply familiar strangers? An AU of the end of the Curse of the Rainbow Arc.

Author: The Storyteller of Dreams

Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

The mystery continues! This time, I'm also using another point of view-not any of the seven (I won't do them until the second arc)-but another character who has also been hit hard with the deaths of the Arcobaleno. Read on to see who!

-(X)-

Chapter 3: Forget-Me-Not

_Forget-Me-Not: True love, remembrance, memories._

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_Mirch Lal couldn't believe that __**he**__ died._

_She denied it when she heard it, worked her hardest to find him along with Tsuna. She ignored the sympathetic looks her co-workers sent her way, burning herself out in her relentless pursuit for her ex-student. Colonello's death hit her __**hard, **__so hard she was almost shocked into laughing madly when she heard it, despite her heart shattering into pieces. Her __**student**__ died? No, no __**way**__. Colonello __**couldn't **__be __**dead**__. If Reborn's death was a foreign concept for Tsuna, the blond's death was that for her. Her idiotic former student had always had that cheerfulness in life despite how dark the world could be, always had that silly, wide grin on his face to assure her that everything would be alright…_

_What's more, Colonello had __**promised**__ her…_

"_**Hey, once we got our curses released, let's get married, kora!"**_

_But nothing was alright now. He was gone, and while her curse was partially released when the Arcobaleno died, they could never marry. She couldn't even say 'yes' when he would, eventually if he was alive, propose to her again. When he proposed to her that first time, she had kicked him and said that he should concentrate on important things first, like the Representative War. She regretted doing that now, as she collapsed in her bed after yet another tiring search for the missing group. She wanted to say 'yes' then, since she could never, and would __**ever**__, have the chance to say that. Lal regretted everything, wished she could turn back time to all those moments when he would flirt with her and she would coldly reject him. Oh, how Lal regretted._

_**I'm **__**so sorry**__**. Please be alive. Please, please, **__**please**_**…**

_But a month after the Arcobaleno disappeared and he was declared dead along with the others, Lal cried in the privacy of her room, heart shattering into pieces. She cried for their lost chances, for their lost happy ending together. She cried, until there were no more tears and she lay on her bed, body curled as if to protect whatever remained of her broken heart._

_Lal regretted, even after a year had passed and she was now Tsuna's tutor in place of Reborn, having resigned from the CEDEF after a few months following the Representative War had ended on a bitter note. She regretted, wishing with all her heart for just __**one more**__ chance with him to just say…_

…_**I love you, Colonello.**_

-(X)-

Her student was at school, but Lal knew that his periods would soon end and return home. However, the former CEDEF member had made a habit after she moved into the relatively peaceful town of Namimori. Everyday, just around the time Tsuna would be finished with his lessons and go home, Lal would go to the local shooting range. There was no real reason why she picked that time, she just _does_. The brunet never complained as he got less physical training with her not around and Lal was _incredibly_ brutal when she gave her training. Instead, Tsuna would use that time to study and make sure he passed his grades, if he didn't Lal would _shoot _him, as the former CEDEF member didn't teach him other things beside the mafia and fighting like Reborn used to do.

Teaching school subjects like math and science weren't her area of expertise, and Lal knew that she was here to train Tsuna to be a mafia boss, but not to replace Reborn. It's not like she would or could anyway, as Tsuna would undoubtedly be angry at the suggestion.

She nodded to the owner of the shooting range. He nodded back, used to her appearance, so he didn't question why a seemingly teenage girl would be here during school hours. Lal's true age was beyond that of a teenager, but when the curse broke, she had turned into one instead of an adult. She was angry then, a mix of negative emotions following the Arcobalono disappearance. She would rather have her baby form than the teenage form for what it represented, the promise that could never be fulfilled.

"_Hey, once we got our curses released, let's get married, kora!"_

But a year after his death, Lal had, mostly, but not completely and perhaps she never could, picked up the pieces of her broken heart and no longer hated her teenaged form. The jagged pieces would hurt her as she picked them up one by one, clumsily trying to piece the complicated puzzle that was her heart together. Sometimes, they would cut her and she would leave the Sawada household for awhile to take some time for herself, her fingers metaphorically bleeding red. But the bleeding would stop, her fingers would stop turning red, and she would return to them, often seeing Tsuna again with a worried, but understanding look.

The kid was good; Lal admitted privately, he would be a great boss. Tsuna respected her ways of dealing with her wounds and the scars it left her just as she respected his own ways. Perhaps that was why, beside Reborn, she was his most respected and trusted teacher.

However, despite having painstakingly putting the pieces of her heart together, some of parts were still missing. Lal knew she would never have them back. Colonello took those with him when he left. Her heart would forever be missing something.

She stopped at a booth and took out her rifle. She lifted the gun and aimed at her target. Lal was a strong woman, she wasn't easy to break, and if she _does_ break, she could pick herself up, continue walking regardless of how much she bleed. Perhaps that was why Colonello loved her, or maybe that was just a part of a much bigger reason.

Regardless, she _would _and _did_ pick herself up. She mourned, yes, she cried, yes, and she certainly regretted many things and wished she could turn back time. But that was wishful thinking, she knew she could never get a second chance. So Lal cried and mourned, but she picked up the pieces of her broken heart, heedless of how it made her bleed, and continued _living_.

Lal pulled the trigger of her rifle.

_BANG!_

Colonello would hate her if she stopped living because of him.

-(X)-

Lal lost track of how long she was there, but reasoned that it was probably just a couple of hours. Tsuna would have finished school by now, probably on his way home right around this time. Lal reasoned that a couple more hours spent here would be just fine.

She reloaded her gun, this time a handgun instead of a rifle. As the cartridge clicked into place, the owner of the place walked towards her, someone else walking behind him, Lal guessed by the sounds of a second set of footsteps. She ignored them, instead standing up with her back against them and lifting her gun with one hand.

"Mirch, this is our new employee. He just came from school." The owner said as she took aim. "He will be working part-time here and I thought it would be good to introduce him to a regular like yourself."

Lal continued to ignore him, about to pull the trigger, when an _incredibly_ _familiar_ voice said.

"Hey, I'm Altair Alexander, kora! But for a pretty girl like you, you can call me Alex!"

_BANG!_

She missed the center by about an inch.

Lal swiveled quickly in place, turning to look at the one who spoke with wide, surprised eyes. Her heart beats faster as she took in the sight of the blond teen with a blue camo headband keeping his bangs away from his blue eyes. Shock kept her still, while rage and longing and _love_ and all the other emotions she couldn't name, as her head spun with confusion and questions, welled up inside her heart, wanting to burst out. She wanted to_ cry_, wanted to _laugh_, wanted to _slap_ him for making her think he was _dead_. But with all the conflicting emotions in her heart, all Lal could do was stare at the new worker, at the teen who looked too much like Colonello to _not _be him.

_Colonello!? How-why-you're __**alive**__!?_

"Are you alright? Um…" He glanced at the owner, as if asking for something.

"Lal." She replied absently, before she snapped and anger sprang out from inside her. "Colonello, you _bastard! _Why didn't you tell me you were _alive!? _I thought you _died _last year!"

"Whoa!" The blond took a step back from the angry woman, raising his hands in defense. "I'm sorry, Lal, but I don't know who you're talking about, kora. You must be mistaking me for somebody else."

"No." She said, shaking her head, denying. "No, no, _no. _You _got_ to be him. You look just like him! Hell, you even said _kora_ at the end of your sentences!"

"Umm, I'm sorry to break this to you, Lal." He replied, scratching the back of his head. "But I'm not Colonello, I'm Alex. I just met you today."

_**No!**_

Lal stared at him, uncomprehending. This teen _have _to be Colonello, right? He looked _too much _like him, have the same verbal tic as him. How could he _not_ be Colonello!?

But as Alex looked at her, worried and confused, no hint of recognition in those _painfully familiar _eyes, Lal's heart, which she thought she just fixed, broke again. _No. _If Alex really was Colonello, but somehow forgot her, how could she take that? To be forgotten by the one you love…But if Alex _wasn't _Colonello, then she has to accept that he was dead all over again. Which one could she handle? To be forgotten or to have your love dead?

Lal didn't know. All she knew was that her heart was beating so fast, it's shattering again, emotions swirling inside her until she's _choking _on it.

So she did the only thing that made sense, she ran away from him. She needed to get away from him, away from the all too familiar face. Thoughts and emotions swirled inside her and now she was crying, tears streaming from her face as she rushed out of the shooting range and into the streets.

Her heart was breaking again, and this time Lal didn't know if she could pick up the pieces

-(X)-

Interacting with Noel was a strange experience, Tsuna admitted privately. Half of the time, the brunet thought that he would pull a Reborn on him, kicking him on the head or punching him, but the dark-haired boy did neither, instead talking openly with him and sometimes laughing as Tsuna told him one of the many incidents his Family and friends would get him into. The other half of the time, Tsuna was dumbstruck that someone who looked _so much_ like the dark hitman could laugh and smile so freely, could talk to him openly when the brunet never saw his tutor did any of that. Reborn smirked, Noel did the same, but he also could smile and laugh. Once Tsuna had gotten over his small mental breakdown on the rooftop, he talked with the new student again, and was incredibly surprised at how similar, but _different _Noel was with his tutor.

Noel loved to cosplay, just like Reborn did. He loved drinking coffee and has a small interest in guns, like Reborn. He was also a genius and would often help his little brother, Leo, along with another brother, Vaan, in helping the former build some science project. However, as much as Noel was like his tutor, he was also different. The teen was…well, that, a _teen_. Tsuna couldn't think of him, as Noel talked about mangas and sci-fi movies, as the dark hitman his tutor was.

Noel was _human _in all the ways Reborn _wasn't._

Not that Reborn _wasn't _human, his death painfully proved that to Tsuna. But Noel acted more like a regular, if an otaku and slightly geeky, teen would be. To Tsuna, up until that fateful day, Reborn wasn't exactly human. The hitman was the strongest person he knew, the best in practically _everything_. Reborn often did the impossible, whether it was by ruining Tsuna's daily life or convincing him that he could win against the likes of a multi-universal tyrant and undead former Arcobalenos. In Tsuna's mind, while Reborn was human, he was also untouchable, the shadow of death that no one could hope to match. He was _Reborn_ and in Tsuna's mind that was a synonym to impossible, powerful and dark people that was infallible.

But Noel wasn't that. The dark-haired teen was fallible, often clumsy when something took up his attention and could be a bit of a smartass. If Reborn was dark, then Noel was light, innocent of the dealings of the mafia world and untainted by death and destruction that shaped Reborn. He was similar in the way that he was willing to help Tsuna through his problems, whether it was math or like the incident on the rooftop, but he was also different in the way that he was open when Reborn wouldn't.

It drove Noel's point from before painfully hard on Tsuna.

"_You hoped that we are them, but the truth is, we're __**not them**__."_

Noel wasn't Reborn, Tsuna could see now, though accepting that was like swallowing a bitter pill. The dark-haired teen was his own person.

Currently, Tsuna was on his way home, Noel walking with him since he was also heading in the same direction. Hayato was busy negotiating with his supplier and Takeshi was at baseball practice. Enma was with his Family and the girls were staying back to cook something. For Noel, Alex (or the kora-addled idiot as he called him) was heading to his part-time job. When Tsuna asked why, Noel replied.

"We all have part-time jobs, Tsuna, even the younger kids." The dark-haired teen said. "School isn't cheap, you know, and we need to be able to pay the rent too."

"What about your parents?" The brunet asked. "Why don't _they _pay for you guys?"

Noel shrugged. "We don't have parents."

"No? How come?" Tsuna asked, as they walked the familiar road to his home.

"We're orphans, all of us." Noel replied. "We came from the same orphanage, though we escaped from it when Skye was five, and grew up together. We used to work in another town, though we didn't go to schools there since there weren't any. It was a small town."

He nodded. "So you guys moved here for the schools?"

"Yes." The dark-haired teen nodded. "Not that we needed it. Usually, Strawberry and I teach the others, so we have _some _education, enough for us to be the grades we're in, at least. More in Leo's case, since he's a genius too, like me. But Feng-nii insisted and Skye backed him up. Jinx-nee is _still _grumbling over the cost of all this."

"Skye, Strawberry, Leo, Vaan, Alex, Jinx-nee and Feng-nii?" Tsuna wondered. "How many siblings do you have?"

"Six." He replied. "We're not blood related, but we became family since we grew up together. Skye's the youngest, Leo, or Strawberry as we sometimes call him, is the second youngest and Vaan's the third. After them is me, then Alex. Feng-nii is the oldest while Jinx-nee is the second oldest."

Tsuna nodded, taking in all the names. His mind spun with questions. _Seven? _That was a strange number, and was _coincidentally_ the same number of people that died last year. Not to mention that Noel looked a lot like Reborn and Alex with Colonello. Tsuna bet that his other siblings looked similar to the other Arcobalenos too.

"Since we came from an orphanage, a terrible one too, we didn't have any names." Noel continued, not noticing Tsuna's contemplative silence. "So we named ourselves. That's why there's some unusual names. Alex actually thought that having Altair as a last name was _cool_. Personally, I think it was a weird surname." The dark-haired ten shrugged. "But, hey, it's _his_ loss."

"So what jobs did you guys take?" Tsuna asked, as they walked closer towards his house.

"Skye's an apprentice baker while Vaan's also one but to a mechanic. Alex works in the local shooting range." Noel answered, and Tsuna wondered how Lal would take to seeing Alex. Probably badly, he thought, frowning slightly. Noel continued, not noticing his expression. "Leo doesn't really work, he invents stuff under the name M.S.L. That stands for Micheangelo 'Strawberry' Leonardo, his name and nickname. Jinx-nee works as a stage magician and Feng-nii works as a courier to a Chinese restaurant here."

"What about you?" Tsuna asked, as they reached his house. The brunet watched as Noel looked at the house contemplatively, pulling out a slip of note and reading it. Then the dark-haired boy nodded and put it away.

"We're here, actually." He tilted his head towards Tsuna's home. "My job."

"Eh, but this is my house!?" Tsuna exclaimed, confused. Noel raised an eyebrow at that.

"This is _your_ place?" Noel questioned, to which Tsuna nodded. The dark-haired boy laughed then, chuckling, which confused Tsuna further. Looking at the brunet's expression, Noel explained, grinning. "I'm supposed to tutor a 'no-good, failing and pathetic' student here, Tsuna, who had the nickname of Dame. I'm guessing that's _you_"

"Wait, _what!?_" Tsuna exclaimed. Suddenly, he has a flashback moment to when he met Reborn. He shivered slightly, a bit fearful. Was Noel a sadistic tutor too? "What, exactly, is your job?"

Noel smirked, it was so alike to Reborn's that for a split second, Tsuna thought he was the hitman.

"I'm a home tutor, _Dame-Tsuna_."

-(X)-

And that's chapter 3! Originally, I wanted to do one in the certain seven new people's point of view, but then I realized that would be giving too much away too soon. What do you think of this? Good? Bad? Please tell me what you think!?

To Paprika Dreams, I don't mind a beta reader, as I'm not a real, native English speaker. But can you beta and give the chapter back within 24 to 48 hours? That's a day or two. The chapters are generally around 3,000 words so it shouldn't take too long.

To Hallaizza Gra, I don't mind having this fic translated to a different language. That's what you meant, right? That means _more_ people can read this, which is a great thing! ^ _ ^ What language do you want to trans it to? Just tell me, ok, if you want to do so?

_**IMPORTANT:**_

I'm thinking of deleting Wishing Star, since after I spent a good amount of time putting in around _**10,000**_ words together for the chapters and not many people reviewed. I think that the story was bad then, so I'm thinking of rewriting it. Please tell me whether I should rewrite it, delete it and never writing it again, or leave it the way it is!

_**IF YOU DON'T WANT THIS STORY TO HAVE THE SAME FATE AS WISHING STAR, PLEASE REVIEW!**_

_**MORE REVIEWS=FASTER UPDATES AND NO THOUGHTS OF DELETION!**_

Fun Facts:

Micheangelo and Leonardo are names of famous Renascence Era artisans. I'm pretty sure everyone knows who Leonardo Da Vinci is. Micheangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was an Italian artisan and was considered a contender for the title Renascence man, along with fellow Italian man, Leonardo. A Renascence man is a Polymath, they are people who have a large amount of knowledge outside of their known field. For example, Leonardo Da Vinci was a Renascence man, having knowledge in both the arts and science.

Thank you for reading this! See you in the next chapter! ^ _ ^

The Storyteller of Dreams


	4. White Rose

Title: Flowers of Forgetfulness

Summary: It has been a year since the Representative War ended, since Reborn and the Arcobalenos died. Now Tsuna, in the third year of middle school, has accepted his role fully as Decimo. But what are seven supposedly dead people doing in Namimori? Are they truly the Arcobaleno? Or are they simply familiar strangers? An AU of the end of the Curse of the Rainbow Arc.

Author: The Storyteller of Dreams

Betareader: AlIa-17

Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

This is _**not **_a four-shot. I originally planned it to be that way, but as I was typing the second chapter, I got _more _ideas for this story and it ended up with _three arcs_. I have no idea how many chapters there will be now. However, I _do _have a new beginning (I _refuse _to call it an _ending, _stories don't really have a definite ending) in mind.

That's all I wanted to say. Geez…you guys don't really read the ANs, they're there for a _reason_. - _ - I'm sorry if I sounded pissed off, but this is one of my pet peeves; people who don't read things through.

Ah well, now that that's out of the way, let's continue the story! This time, I'm challenging myself by using a character most of the fandom dislikes due to lack of character development. Let's see if I can redeem her, hmm? ^ _ ^ This chapter is a bit longer than usual since I want to wrap this up in one go instead of dragging it on. And look! I finally got a betareader, my best friend (in Real Life as well as here), AlIa-17!

**This chapter takes place before Noel arrived, around a month after the Representative War.**

-(X)-

Chapter 4: White Rose

_White Rose: Innocence and secrecy_

-(X)-

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_Sasagawa Kyoko cursed her helplessness as she looked at the empty seat where Tsuna-kun should be._

_It was a month after the Arcobaleno's death. Ever since Reborn-kun's death, Tsuna-kun had become a recluse, withdrawn and quiet. He would often skip classes nowadays, and if he wasn't behaving so lifelessly, his temper would shorten and he would snap at those around him. Kyoko heard that yesterday, some students from another class tried to bully him, but got beaten up in return. It was self-defense, she knew, there was nothing __**wrong **__with it. Except that, there __**was **__something wrong with it._

_Tsuna-kun only fought to protect his friends and Family, never for hurting others._

_Which he did. Kyoko saw him doing so yesterday, when he fought those bullies. He wanted to hurt those students, not fight to protect himself. He wanted them to feel the same pain he felt, wanted them to hurt as he hurt. But what Tsuna-kun didn't know, was that by doing so, not only does he hurt himself more, but also those who cared about him._

_It was __**wrong**__, Tsuna-kun was kind and selfless and gentle and….and...and __**everything**__ that's __**good**__. Yes, he was clumsy and failed in practically every subject, he was only human, after all, but he was also strong, both of heart and body. He shouldn't look like that, like what Kyoko saw yesterday. He shouldn't look so __**lost**__, so __**sad**__, so __**hurt**__._

_It hurts her to see Tsuna-kun look like that. He __**shouldn't **__be __**that way**__._

_The next day, Tsuna-kun was absent again. No one knew where he went, not even the Guardians or his family. He just left, disappeared without a trace._

_Kyoko took one look at his empty seat, frowned, and left the class. She was getting __**tired **__of her own helplessness._

_She was absent for the rest of the day._

-(X)-

She couldn't find him, but that was fine. She expected that, Tsuna-kun wasn't easy to find when he didn't want to be, even when she tries her hardest. So instead, she waited in front of his house, even until late at night. Her older brother called, worried, but she assured him that she was fine. Nana-san offered to let her in, but she declined, saying that she would wait for Tsuna-kun in front. The children came and asked her to play with them, and she did for a bit, but she declined their pleads to go in, instead opting to wait for the brunet. The children looked disappointed that she wouldn't come in, and Nana-san looked worried for her, but she just smiled at them and stayed firm on her decision.

That was hours ago. The front door was still opened for her, and Kyoko was tempted to get in and forget waiting for Tsuna-kun.

She shook her head, and with it, that thought. She was tired of waiting, yes, but she was patient. Her legs were tired of standing so she sat on the concrete ground, putting her bag beside her. Kyoko was sweet and kind-hearted, but she could also be infinitely stubborn and headstrong. One does _not _live and grow up with Sasagawa Ryohei and not have some of his hardheadedness rubbing off on them.

So she remained, waiting in the cold night air for the lost brunet. Kyoko shivered as a chilly breeze blew past her, her eyes going closed from sleepiness. But she pinched herself before she could succumb to sleep and checked her cellphone. The glowing screen of the phone told her that it was 11:53 pm. Her heart dropped to her stomach, worried for the brunet. What could Tsuna-kun be doing that it took him so long and well into the night?

Kyoko wanted to ask, she wanted to do so ever since that time in the bad future, when Tsuna-kun was forced to tell her the truth. Until then, she never knew what burden he was forced to bear, how it weighed heavily on him. She wanted to ask so _badly_, wanted him to _trust _her and let her in. But he never did. It was one of the few things that Kyoko hated about him. The brunette admired him for how he could handle various complicated situations that no teenagers should _ever _face and still remained _himself, _still remained the same clumsy, sweet brunet that Kyoko knew. However, she hated his protective side sometimes, just as much as she loved it, because Tsuna-kun keeps trying to keep her innocent, ignorant of the dark mafia world that he somehow got entangled to.

_But I'm not that __**innocent**__ anymore, Tsuna-kun. I __**wish**__ you will just __**tell **__me._

Kyoko was never as innocent as she was before, ever since that day in the future.

A part of her was sad about it, but she shrugged it off and simply accepted it. This was part of growing up, you couldn't remain innocent forever, she knew. Yet Tsuna-kun tried to do that for her, and while a part of her was angry that he could just so selfishly decide for her, another part was also happy because he cared for her a lot, enough so that he would go out of his way to keep her ignorant of what he was truly doing.

So Kyoko let him believe that she bought his lies, even though she knew better. She smiled as her brother told her that they were on a sumo competition meeting and frowned when he left. She buried the anger and bitterness that she felt over being lied at, because she _knew_. Kyoko understood why her brother and everyone else were doing this to her and Haru. She understood and knew how heavy the burden they must bear. Knowing all that, all her bitterness and anger vanished, leaving a slight resentment at herself for being so _helpless_, at being so _weak_, that they couldn't trust her with the truth.

Kyoko felt a bit better knowing that she wasn't the only one being babied by them. Haru was often angry at their treatment towards her, but the brunette managed to calm her down before she ever confronted any of them on it. _Let them have this lie_, she would say, _let them believe that at least __**something**__ was alright when everything else wasn't_. They were the people they left behind so that they could come home to them, so that they have a reason to fight, to bear the heavy burdens they hold. If believing in their lies would help them, then they would do so.

Kyoko regretted ever thinking like that. She regretted never taking action, like Haru would. She couldn't do anything when Tsuna-kun fell to despair and regret, couldn't do anything as her friends started to snap at each other because the Sky that held them together weren't _there _to take care of them.

Kyoko was _tired _of doing nothing, which was why she was here, sitting on the cold concrete ground in the middle of a chilly night, waiting for Tsuna-kun to come home. It was time for her to take action.

An hour later, Tsuna-kun finally arrived home, looking surprised at seeing her. She only smiled at that, looking up at him from where she sat. Her lips were slightly blue from the cold and she was shivering from the chilly night air, yet she stood, a welcoming smile on her lips.

"Kyoko-chan, what are you doing here!?" Tsuna-kun shouted, his worry temporarily getting the best over his recent melancholic mood. She smiled a bit at that. If only she knew that this would snap him back to his usual self, even if it was only for awhile.

"Waiting for you to come home, Tsuna-kun." She replied softly, eyes drooping. She was much sleepier now than before. But still, she somehow found the energy to step forward, walking closer to him. He stood still, confused, as she cupped a cheek with one cold hand. She peered into his eyes and smiled softly, sad at what she found.

"It seems I still need to wait some more." She said softly, barely a whisper. Her eyes drooped shut, her body finally succumbing to the tiredness she felt. But before she fainted completely, she whispered, looking sadly at his dull brown eyes, her heart filled with regrets.

"Come back home soon…Tsuna-kun…"

-(X)-

"Is this Bianchi-san?"

"Kyoko? I haven't heard from you for awhile."

"Yes, I know. How's Italy treating you?"

"I'm alright. I'm sorry I left so suddenly…I need…I need to get away…away from the place where Reborn…"

"I know, Bianchi-san…It's alright. I hope you're getting better."

A sad sigh, filled with regrets and sadness. "Moving on is very hard, Kyoko, but…I'm trying my best. In my line of work, this is necessary."

"I'm sorry…"

"It's not your fault, Kyoko. So tell me, why are you calling me?"

"Ah…about that…Bianchi-san, I'm getting _tired_ of doing _nothing_. I want to do _something_. What I do now _isn't_ enough. Tsuna-kun is still depressed and Onii-san is still burning himself out during training. There's got to be _something_ I can do to help."

"Just be yourself-"

"That's _not enough!_ I _can't _be as naïve and innocent as I was before. I have to confront them, but what if that just creates _more _problems!? I don't know what to do, Bianchi-san…"

"Then just do what your heart says, Kyoko."

"…My heart is telling to confront them."

"Then do it and don't look back. Everything will be alright."

"…How can you be so sure?"

"….The sun always rises, does it not? We'll get through this night and see the dawn again. I'll see you later then, Kyoko."

"Wait! What do you mean!?"

_BEEP…_

-(X)-

It was another day, and Tsuna-kun's seat was still empty. Kyoko frowned at that, hefting her bag and leaving the class again. It was lucky that she went to school early or else someone might have seen her and tried to stop her. As it was, she could easily slip away from school and started to look everywhere for Tsuna-kun.

With her bag on her back, she ran down the streets and started to look for him. Thoughts flew in her mind, suggestions on where the missing brunet might be. He couldn't be at home as she had called Nana-san before she left the school. He was probably not in any of the Guardians' homes, as none of them told her that they saw him when she called. Perhaps Kokuyo? No, Chrome would've known since Mukuro was there and the two were still connected despite how the eyepatch-wearing girl was now her own person. The shrine? But she checked that yesterday and he wasn't there.

_Where are you, Tsuna-kun?_

The mountains, she thought, it was the only place she haven't checked. But was it safe? She didn't know, but Tsuna-kun wasn't anywhere in town. Going out of town was the only option left. So Kyoko steeled her nerves and went into the mountains, trekking through the thick forest.

She didn't know how long she was inside the mountain, perhaps _hours_. The sun was high up in the sky, hot and making her sweat. Her legs were aching, tired from the hike and the soles of her feet _hurts_. Her legs were going to be sore after this. Yet, despite all of this, she continued on anyway. Tsuna-kun was somewhere inside this mountain, she was sure.

Suddenly, she heard the sounds of wood breaking, the sizzling of fire. She felt the temperature rise slightly, making her sweat a bit more. She must be nearer then. This was most likely Tsuna-kun using his flames. She remembered that brilliant orange flame from when she saw it in the future, the way his brown eyes would burn molten amber when he used it. It was…beautiful, dazzling, she thought then, and still thought now as she saw Tsuna-kun fly with his flames propelling him, doing flips and somersaults in the air.

_Incredible…_

Then Tsuna-kun righted himself midair and shot a burst of fire at a nearby tree, burning it to a crisp immediately. Kyoko gasped when he did that, her eyes suddenly locking on to the brunet's cold, golden eyes.

Unconsciously, she took a step back.

Then Tsuna-kun was in front of her, his eyes softening when he saw her, and she unknowingly breathed out a sigh of relief. The Tsuna-kun she knew was still there after all, he wasn't entirely gone yet.

And Kyoko would try her hardest to make sure he wouldn't go away, _ever_.

"What are you doing here, Kyoko-chan?" He asked, confused and surprised. His eyes dimmed from its previous burning gold to a dull brown as he diminished his flames, going back to his lifeless state.

Kyoko _hated _that.

"I was looking for you, Tsuna-kun." She replied, smiling a bit, trying to act as normal as possible. Perhaps that would draw the Tsuna-kun she knew back? "Come on, let's head back."

But that didn't work, and she hid a grimace as the brunet in front of her shook his head. "No. I'm sorry, Kyoko-chan…but I don't want to be around anyone right now…"

She sucked in a breath, trying to stay pleasant even though she wanted nothing more than to _shout _at him. Why couldn't he _see_ that doing this would only hurt himself and those around him? Why couldn't he _see _that behaving so destructively wouldn't be beneficial for _anyone_? Why couldn't he _see_-

_Why can't you __**see **__that you have people who worry about you, Tsuna-kun!?_

_Why can't you see that __**we **__feel the same pain as __**you**__ do!?_

_Why can't you __**see**__ that you're __**hurting**__ us…hurting me?_

_I want you back, Tsuna-kun…_

But to do that, she must take action. She should have took action before all of _this _started, actually. Kyoko regretted that she didn't, but she was determined to do something _now_, determined to do get Tsuna-kun out of his depression. Kyoko took a deep breath, preparing herself for what she has to say.

_Better late than never._

"Tsuna-kun…" She started, slowly, gently, and a bit warily. "Look, I know you're hurt over Reborn-kun's death…"

At the mention of his home tutor, the brunet's eyes snapped up at hers, confused and shocked. Kyoko ignored that and continued. "But you _have _to move on, Tsuna-kun. I'm sorry that he has to die, but-well…it's done. He's dead, Tsuna-kun, and you have to accept that."

As she finished, the brunet eyes flashed from brown to gold in anger. Kyoko felt fear, her legs shaking, and she leaned against a tree beside her as her body trembled and threatened to collapse. Tsuna-kun _glared _at her, so _angry_ and filled with _rage _that it shocked her to the core.

"How can you say that!?" He shouted at her, anger evident in his voice. She flinched from his tone, but he didn't notice. "I _know _that Reborn's _dead! _I was _there_ and I couldn't do _anything! _He was a part of my _family_, but I couldn't _do anything _to help him! _I was __**useless**__!"_

She trembled, afraid, but her eyes were filled with tears of sadness for the brunet in front of her. She could hear the hate in his voice, not at her, but at _himself_. It _shouldn't be that way._

"I _can't _just accept it. _I can't just __**move on**__!" _Tsuna-kun stated angrily, and maybe there was a hint of self-loathing too. The brunet turned away from her, his bangs shading his eyes and his hands filled with fire. He quickly propelled himself to the air, but before he did so, Kyoko swore she could hear him say, perhaps not to her, but to himself.

"_…And I don't know how to move on_."

As he left, Kyoko collapse to the ground, her eyes finally leaking the held back tears as her heart breaks for the brunet who was lost in more than one sense of the word.

_Oh, Tsuna-kun…_

-(X)-

Later, when she regained the feeling in her legs, Kyoko continued to look for him.

The brunet may be lost, but she was determined to bring him back home. He was her friend and a part of _her _family too.

So Kyoko trekked further into the mountain, even though her legs ached and her surroundings grew darker as the foliage grew denser. She continued to walk and walk, until she could finally see a cliff up ahead where Tsuna-kun sat.

"…I'm sorry." She said, sincerely and softly as she walked up behind him. Tsuna-kun didn't turn to look at her. "I know. I know how it hurts to be so useless, to be so _weak_, to be left behind by those who are important to you."

She sat beside him, looking towards the horizon where the sun dipped away from the sky. "But…I don't think Reborn-kun would want you to be like this. I don't think any of them want to see you like this. I know it hurts now, and I know that it hurts to move on too, but…"

Kyoko finally turned to look at him, her brown eyes sad and understanding. Tsuna-kun didn't look at her, instead staring down below at the trees that stretched before them. The brunette saw tears running down the other's cheeks.

"I know it hurts, but don't forget that you're not the only one hurting." She said, voice quiet enough to be a whisper. But she was sure that Tsuna-kun heard her. "We're here too, Tsuna-kun. Don't selfishly bottle up your pain, don't carry this burden alone. We're all here for you. We _want _to help you, but you _have _to let us do so."

"_I _want to help, Tsuna-kun." Kyoko said. "_Please_, let us do this. This is what families do. Isn't this what Reborn-kun taught you? That you can't carry everything on your shoulders alone?"

Tsuna-kun was quiet for a moment, but then he sobbed, his shoulders jerking up and down at the movement. Suddenly, Tsuna-kun was crying, his brown eyes leaking tears and Kyoko pulled him into a hug, letting him wet her shoulder as night descended upon them.

Her body was tired, her legs were sore and her shoulder was getting wet. But Kyoko didn't care about any of that. She embraced the brunet closer; letting him release his grief, as she closed her eyes and let her head droop onto his shoulder. Her heart was sad, hurting so much for the brunet in her arms, that she cried a bit too.

But Kyoko was determined that one day, she would turn the tears that Tsuna-kun shed into smiles, as the brunet returned her embrace with a desperate sort of urgency.

Night has fallen upon them, taking away the Sun they knew. But while Ryohei was the Sun Guardian and Reborn the Sun Arcobaleno, she was a Sun of her own too. She would do her part to brighten up the Sky, anything to bring Tsuna-kun home.

So she held Tsuna-kun closer and swore to herself. She would no longer be _useless, weak _and _helpless_. She would help the crying brunet in any way she could, because _his _friends and Family were _hers_ too.

_And I __**have **__to be able to protect my friends and Family._

-(X)-

"Bianchi-san?"

"Oh, Kyoko? How are you?"

"I'm fine. But, Bianchi-san, is there anything I can do for the Family?"

"…Kyoko, are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Yes, I want to join the Vongola Family. I want to help Tsuna-kun someway."

"…I see. Hmm, love truly is a powerful force."

"B-Bianchi-san! I didn't say anything about love! Tsuna-kun is a dear friend to me and his friends and Family are mine too, so…"

"I see. Well, it just so happens that Trace Millers from the Special Intelligence Division is currently looking for a student. I think I can recommend you to her."

"Oh, thank you, Bianchi-san! But, can we keep this a secret from the rest? I don't want them to know until after Tsuna-kun become the Vongola Decimo."

"I understand. I imagine that they won't take it well to the news that you're joining the mafia. At least by then it would be too late for them to protest."

"Yes, that's what I thought. Umm, Bianchi-san, what does Millers-san do?"

"Tell me, Kyoko, what do you know of computer programming?"

-(X)-

The next day, Tsuna-kun was in his seat, eyes still empty, but at least he was _there_. That was a good sign.

_It's small, like baby steps, really, but it's __**something**__ at least._

Kyoko smiled at that, slightly pleased. This was _far _from over, but she would take any victory, regardless of how small, as one in this fight.

So, smiling a bit at the brunet's presence in class, she ignored her teacher and looked down at the computer book in her lap. Who knew computer programming could be so interesting?

_Oh, I can't __**wait**__ until Millers-san teach me how to hack!_

-(X)-

And here's chapter 4! This time, it's a step in the past focusing on Kyoko. This is more like background stuff to build up the future arcs and chapters, so this is necessary. What do you think of Kyoko here? Did I redeemed her? Was it good? Was it bad? Please tell me!

_**MORE REVIEWS = FASTER UPDATES!**_

Fun Facts:

The sun is often considered as a _cosmic power_ by most people. The Greek god of the sun was Apollo, who was also the god of _truth and healing_. The sun also symbolizes _life, power, strength, force, clarity and self_. It is also associated with _eyes_, which symbolizes _presence, intelligence, perception, observation and awareness._

Well, that's it for now. Thank you for reading this! See you guys later in the next chapter! ^ _ ^

The Storyteller of Dreams


	5. Blue Rose

Title: Flowers of Forgetfulness

Summary: It has been a year since the Representative War ended, since Reborn and the Arcobalenos died. Now Tsuna, in the third year of middle school, has accepted his role fully as Decimo. But what are seven supposedly dead people doing in Namimori? Are they truly the Arcobaleno? Or are they simply familiar strangers? An AU of the end of the Curse of the Rainbow Arc.

Author: The Storyteller of Dreams

Betareader: AlIa-17

Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

Hmm, seems like there's not a lot of reviews for the last chapter, but that was expected. It _was _a chapter centered on Kyoko and the past after all and it was more like a background chapter to set up the events later, or so you guys would know why Kyoko would do something she didn't do in Canon.

With all that, let's go back to our regularly scheduled program! ^ _ ^

-(X)-

Chapter 5: Blue Rose

_Blue Rose: Mystery, attaining the impossible_

-(X)-

.

.

.

_Haru knew something was up with Kyoko._

_She wasn't the only one who suspected this. Ever since she moved to Namimori Middle, she became friends with Hana. She could see, as she sat behind Kyoko and halfheartedly listened to the teacher, by the way Hana glanced at the brunette every now and then, that the dark-haired girl suspected Kyoko of the same thing._

_The question was, what was Kyoko doing?_

_A couple of days ago, Kyoko had gone absent from school, despite the claims of a few that said that they saw the brunette at school in the morning. The day after she went missing, Tsuna appeared for the first time in weeks. Haru knew that Kyoko had something to do with that, if the small smile on her face said anything about it._

_That was also around the time when Kyoko suddenly became preoccupied with something. Haru narrowed her eyes and glimpsed at the book on Kyoko's lap, which the brunette looked at more often than she did to the board which the teacher was pointing to as he described some equation. Nowadays, Kyoko carried that book everywhere she went, reading its contents in every available opportunity._

_Frankly, Haru was freaked out._

_She was worried for Kyoko now, just as much as she worried for Tsuna. The brunet was a bit better nowadays, but only by a small amount. Tsuna was still prone to behaving lifeless or snapping at people, but that lessened by a bit now. It was probably Kyoko's doing, Haru guessed and resolved to help her brunette friend in getting Tsuna back to normal as soon as possible._

_**At least now Tsuna-san can be around others.**_

_She glanced at the brunet, who stared at the teacher dully. The octopus-head and Takeshi were glancing at the brunet with concern in their eyes. They would probably talk to him soon, so Tsuna wasn't exactly on Haru's list of immediate concern for now as he had other people that could take care of him without her. But Kyoko, whose sudden interest in books relating to __**computer programming**__-of all things-were worrying, didn't exactly have that kind of attention. Sure, she was popular, but her real friends were her, Hana, Tsuna and his Guardians and most of the boys were too preoccupied with their boss to notice her. _

_Haru was worried that Kyoko was dealing with the effects of their Sky's lifelessness badly._

…_Which she found completely silly when, after Haru and Hana confronted her afterschool, the brunette revealed that she was learning computer programming to help Tsuna. Kyoko had joined the Vongola now, becoming the student of one of their Special Intelligence member, Trace Millers, and had promptly fallen in love with things relating to computers like Ryohei does with boxing. That revelation was a shock to both of them._

_Privately, Haru was impressed that Kyoko, who was usually so __**passive**__ and __**accepting**__, would take action to join the Family without Tsuna knowing. The girl thought __**she**__ would be the first one to join them._

_Apparently, she was wrong, but she didn't really mind it. When it came down to it, both of them cared for Tsuna a lot, enough to do what normal societies would frown upon._

_Hana, who was secretly filled in with all of Tsuna's (mis)adventures after Kyoko's truth, was simply standing there, shocked that her best friend would do such a thing. Then, she slowly shook her head, but suddenly stopped and took a deep breath, as if calming herself down. Then, she looked at both of them with the most deadpan stare she ever have._

"_So," Hana started, face blank. "The dame-monkey, who turned out to be the __**boss**__ of all monkeys, somehow got himself into the __**mafia-**__of all things-and __**you two**__ want to help him in __**any way**__ possible. Up to and including __**breaking into secured, off-limits government business**__."_

_The way she worded it seem as if she had just said the most incredulous thing in the world, and maybe it is. Kyoko, who was learning how to hack and was trying-and __**succeeding**__, Haru thought with bemused wonder-to break into Japan's S.D.F intelligence network, looked sheepish, hugging her new laptop to her chest._

"_I-Yes." Kyoko nodded, looking embarrassed that she was found out, smiling sheepishly._

_Hana pinched the bridge of her nose, then turned to stare at her, looking slightly exasperated. "And __**you**__ want to do the same."_

_Did she? When Haru thought about it, there was no other way she could reply if not with, "Yes! If Kyoko-chan is in, then I'm in too! And I want to help my future husband!"_

_Hana looked between the two of them, the girls who somehow got themselves entangled with the mafia and didn't want to get out, and let out a sigh. The dark-haired girl crossed her arms, her mouth set in a firm line._

"_Fine. If you two are in this, then I guess I'm in this too."_

-(X)-

They were quite a sight to see, Haru was sure, watching as Kyoko face turned to the focused intensity mingled with happiness, much like Ryohei would when he's in the boxing ring, beside her as the brunette hacked into something or the other with her laptop. The cosplay-loving girl was slightly concerned with her friend, as Kyoko could be _very enthusiastic_ when she does things, but shrugged it off as the brunette embracing her inner Sasagawa. Either that, or Ryohei was rubbing off on his younger sister.

Haru took a bite out of a piece of cake, enjoying the taste in her mouth, as she looked at Hana. The dark-haired girl was cleaning her guns, dissembling and reassembling them quicker than a normal person's eyes could keep up with, but Haru could, if she cared to. The other girl then tucked her guns away, under her skirt and strapped to her thighs, inside her shirt and up her sleeves. Haru wasn't too concerned with the amount of firearms Hana packed away in various places, too used to care.

_Two girls doing or having otherwise illegal things and another just leisurely eating cake. Yes, we __**would**__ be a sight to see._

Haru chuckled at her own thought, taking another bite out of the cake.

_Ah well…that doesn't matter. This cake is __**delicious**__._

"So what do you have on the new students, Kyoko?" Hana asked, as she casually loaded a gun with bullets. Haru continued eating cake.

"Something interesting." Kyoko said, frowning a bit. Haru could see that _'interesting' _means _'bad' _in this context and turned to looked at her. "Look at this."

Under the guise of cooking, the girls stayed at school, inside their now-empty classroom to be accurate. Chrome couldn't be with them as she had to checked up on Mukuro and the rest in Kokuyo Land, but they promised to tell her whatever new information they, or rather Kyoko, would come across. Tsuna and his Guardians, naturally, didn't know what they were up to, or even what they were capable of now. They had agreed that this would be a secret kept only to the girls, at least until Tsuna officially inherited the Vongola.

The two dark-haired girls shifted, moving so they could peer into Kyoko's laptop.

"Here." Kyoko said, pulling up several windows. She pointed at one. "Look at this. It's a missing children report that dates six years ago from an orphanage in some town. There are no names on the children, but look at their faces."

"That one looks like Reborn-san, or Noel." Haru said, looking at the picture of a dark-haired, ten year old child. She pointed to another picture. "And that one looks like Colonello-san, or Alex."

"But these dates back six years ago, right?" Hana asked, to which Kyoko nodded. The dark-haired girl frowned. "But the Arcobaleno were still alive then. How can this be?"

"That's the same thing I'm wondering, Hana-chan." Kyoko replied, pointing at the other window. "Look, here are reports of the odd jobs they took. I got their current finance record here too, they're barely making enough as it is. They've been working various part-time jobs ever since they ran away from the orphanage and continued to do so up to now to make enough money for their necessities. This is proof that they were alive during the time Reborn-kun and the others were too."

"But what does this mean?" Haru asked, confused, her fork on her lips. "Noel and Alex looked too much like Reborn-san and Colonello-san to be a coincidence. Are you telling me that they _aren't _the Arcobaleno despite their looks?"

"I don't know, Haru-chan." Kyoko said, sounding as mystified as them. The brunette shrugged. "I'm just telling you what I found out. It just seems impossible for Noel and Alex to be Reborn-kun and Colonello-kun at the same time they were alive."

"As impossible as mafia babies and magical flames?" Hana asked rhetorically, drawing a light chuckle from them. The dark-haired girl's lips quirked up in amusement, which turned to a slight frown as she looked at Kyoko's laptop again. "That aside, are we supposed to write this off as a _coincidence_? Maybe some rival Families sent some people to impersonate them to harm Tsuna?"

Hana no longer called Tsuna 'dame-monkey' anymore, not unless he did something the other girl deemed stupid. Tsuna had gained the other girl's respect during the time before now and after the Arcobaleno deaths. In return, Hana had become his friend and Family.

"But if they wanted to harm Tsuna-kun, why go to such complicated lengths?" Kyoko questioned. "I saw Noel and Tsuna-kun as they went down from the rooftop. I'm guessing that the rooftop was empty since no one was there, so Noel could have hurt him then."

"But he didn't." Haru stated, taking another slice of cake and eating it contemplatively. "So they can't come from a rival Family, and like Kyoko-chan said, why go to such complicated lengths? How many people know the Arcobaleno's teen forms anyway? Weren't they transformed into babies a _long_ time ago?"

"And they were professional assassins or the like too, so they can easily dispose any pictures of their past selves." Hana added, nodding. "Which means it's either extremely hard or impossible for them to find their pictures. There's also the fact that they _could_ have been cursed before the Internet was created, or maybe even _before_ coloured pictures exist. I'm thinking around Vongola Ottavo's time."

"Nono's around seventy years old now, right?" Haru asked. "How long is _that_, if they existed before he was born?"

"Very _long_." Hana replied, looking thoughtfully at the pictures on the screen. "So I guess we can rule out my theory then. Any other ideas?"

"What do we know of the pacifiers?" Kyoko spoke up, drawing the two dark-haired girls attention. "No one saw how they died. They didn't even leave a body behind. They were only presumed dead since they went missing for so long and were up against a tough opponent."

"We know that the Arcobaleno Pacifiers are part of the Tri-Ni-Sette, which maintains the world." Haru said, tapping her fork to her lips. "We know that the Arcobaleno were human sacrifices made to maintain their light and that Checkerface controls the Tri-Ni-Sette."

"Is it possible?" Hana suddenly asked, voicing the same questions in their minds. "Can the pacifiers bring the dead back to life?"

"Uni-chan did it in the future." Kyoko said, nodding hesitantly.

"But Uni disappeared along with the other Arcobaleno." Haru said, shaking her head. "So she can't revive them if she's also dead."

"What about Checkerface?" The other girl questioned. "He made them. Can't he do the same?"

"We don't know." She admitted. "But why would he do that anyway?"

Hana shrugged. "Maybe to gather the next Arcobaleno?"

"We can't let that happen!" Kyoko exclaimed suddenly, startling the other two girls slightly. "I won't let him turn Tsuna-kun and the others into human sacrifices!"

"Don't worry, we won't let that happen too, Kyoko-chan." Haru promised, gripping her friend's shoulder reassuringly. Kyoko turned to smile at her, though her eyes still crinkled in worry. "Besides, we haven't heard from Checkerface since last year."

"And why make a move now rather than before?" Hana added, patting Kyoko's back reassuringly. "Tsuna's more vulnerable within the few months after their deaths, and so are the others since they can't focus much with their Sky being all gloomy. Why strike _now_ of all times?"

"You do realize that you're invalidating your own theory, right, Hana-chan?" The brunette asked, looking up at the dark-haired girl. But Kyoko was smiling despite her words, the worry gone from her eyes.

Said girl shrugged. "Yeah, I know. But it was a stupid idea anyway."

"So what does that leave us with?" Haru wondered aloud. "Does this mean that Noel and Alex are normal people?"

"I guess this means that they're civilians until I can get more information." Kyoko sighed, reaching for a piece of cake. But her fork met thin air and she turned her eyes to glare at Haru, who was looking so _innocent_, that it was obvious she was guilty of the empty plate. "Haru-chan, you ate all the cake!"

Haru threw her hands to the air as if in defense, but her lips turned to a grin in amusement as Kyoko glared at her accusingly. "It's not my fault, Kyoko-chan! You were the one who's so busy with her computer. Geez, from the way you go with that thing, it's like seeing Ryohei-san do boxing!"

The brunette blushed red, embarrassed, but didn't deny the statement. Instead, she glared at her friend more.

She laughed at that. "Don't worry, Kyoko-chan! It's alright, you're just embracing your inner Sasagawa! There's nothing to be ashamed of!"

"She's right, Kyoko." Hana said with an amused grin. "Now I can clearly see the family resemblance between you and the boxing monkey."

The brunette glared at both of them, but they simply laughed at that. Kyoko huffed, turning to her laptop, pointedly ignoring her teasing friends.

Suddenly, her computer pinged, the sound of an email coming in. Curiously, the brunette opened the email, her eyes widening as she read the contents.

Seeing that, her friends quieted, curious at what caused such a reaction to the younger Sasagawa. Haru asked. "What's wrong, Kyoko-chan?

"I just got an email from Millers-san. _Someone is hacking into the Vongola's accounts!_"

-(X)-

"I don't _need_ a home tutor, Mom!" Tsuna exclaimed, suddenly feeling a sense of déjà vu as he did so.

They were inside his room now. After Tsuna had gotten over the initial freak out of having someone who looked _so much _like Reborn teaching him, he had invited the amused looking teen in. It was good manners to do so, after all. Then, his mother saw him and cheerfully told him that she enlisted a home tutor from some education agency a couple of days ago.

_And it just __**has**__ to be Noel._

Tsuna glanced at the dark-haired boy who sat by the kitchen table in front of him, his thoughts sullen. Noel looked amused, if that smirk was any indication, and Tsuna had the urge to wipe that smirk off his face. He didn't, but that was due to years of fearing Reborn. If he attempted to do that to the hitman, Tsuna was sure he would be beaten up or shot at.

"Now, now Tsu-kun." His mother said, smiling cheerfully at him as she flew around the kitchen to cook. "I noticed that your grades were falling, so I thought that having a home tutor would be good for you. Reborn-kun did an _incredible_ job before he left and I thought that having another home tutor would do the same."

"_B-but-!"_ Tsuna sputtered, glancing again at Noel, who narrowed his eyes thoughtfully when his mother mentioned Reborn. The brunet resisted the urge to groan.

_Why must it be __**Noel**__!?_

Noel looked too much like Reborn, acted too much like the Sun Arcobaleno, that it made Tsuna's heart hurt with nostalgia. Sure, the dark-haired teen was different than his first home tutor, acted more _human_ than Reborn, but Noel still behaved mostly the same as the hitman. Tsuna couldn't believe that his luck was _this_ bad, to be assigned with a home tutor that was much too similar, yet different, to Reborn that he couldn't even _looked_ at him all the time without feeling some sort of guilt, sadness or regret.

Tsuna wondered if Noel was a living ghost, sent to torment him due to his failure towards his home tutor.

With a sigh, Tsuna resigned himself to his fate and trudged up the stairs, Noel following him closely. As they entered his room, the brunet placed his bag on his bed, sitting down on the floor and slumping against it. The dark-haired boy frowned a bit at that, closing the door behind him and settling down on the floor too.

"Are you alright, Tsuna?" He asked, looking faintly concerned of him. Tsuna thought of Reborn and how the hitman would hide his worries better than Noel, once again he was struck by how _different _the two were.

"I'm fine." Tsuna replied, smiling a bit. Noel looked unconvinced, but he reluctantly accepted his words.

The dark-haired teen opened his bag, peering into it before taking out a few papers. He checked them once, before he gave it to Tsuna, who raised an eyebrow as he saw the various questions written there.

"It's an evaluation test for me to know what subjects you're strong and weak in." Noel explained at his questioning look. "I was supposed to come later, but I decided to come earlier so that I can pick up the kids before heading home."

"_I arrived three hours early, but as a service, I'll evaluate you now."_

Tsuna shook his head, dispelling the sudden memory of Reborn when he first met him. A shiver went up his spine as he remembered the smack down that occurred following Reborn's appearance. The brunet took the papers from Noel, who shot him a confused look, gratefully. Tsuna was extremely _thankful_ that Noel seemed to be a much tamer, less sadistic teacher than Reborn.

That is until he saw the questions written in the test. At that point, Tsuna freaked out internally.

_I don't understand __**any **__of this!_

-(X)-

"You really _are_ as no-good as they say in the agency." Noel remarked as he wrote a red '0' on the test. He looked at Tsuna, who was now huddled up in a dark corner, depressed, a dark cloud hanging over his head. "I heard that you were getting better, but it seemed that you have fallen back to being no-good, _Dame-Tsuna._"

The brunet flinched a bit as he heard his old nickname. _God,_ it really was like Reborn had come back to tortur-_train_ him again. Tsuna didn't really know how to react to this tutoring thing. If it was anyone else who tried to be his tutor, he would be undoubtedly be angry. Even Lal knew better than to take Reborn's place.

But this is _Noel_, the new student who looked and acted _so _similarly to Reborn. It was _almost_ as if the hitman was here. Nostalgia means the longing for the past, usually a happy one. His days with Reborn weren't always happy, as he was tortured on a near daily basis and sent to fight increasingly powerful foes, but it was, as Tsuna told him before he died, _fun_. However, the word 'nostalgia' came from the Greek words for 'homecoming' and _'pain'_.

Tsuna was most definitely feeling the latter.

"Well, this is it for now." Noel stated, packing away the papers inside his bag and standing up. "I'll see you tomorrow at school, Dame-Tsuna."

"Ah, wait!" Tsuna exclaimed, before he clamped his mouth shut and looked away, blushing from embarrassment. Noel looked at him curiously.

"What's wrong?" The dark-haired teen asked, prompting a nervous laugh from Tsuna.

"Ah…" The brunet rubbed the back of his head nervously, suddenly short on words. "I-umm…"

Noel sighed, leaning against the door. He crossed his arms and waited patiently, if a bit irritated, for Tsuna to continue.

"I…" Tsuna started, looking down at his folded hands on his laps. "…W-what do you do…when you regret something?"

Noel looked at him, peering into his brown eyes. Then, the dark-haired boy huffed, bringing his hand up to tilt his fedora down, shading his eyes.

"Tch, you're really _are_ a dame. Perhaps my first impression on you was wrong…" Noel stated, but there was an almost amused smirk on his face. His black eyes peered at Tsuna from underneath the brim of his hat, and suddenly the brunet felt that he was facing Reborn. "…Or maybe it's not. Regardless, if you regret something, then fix it. If you can't then make sure it'll never happens again with your dying will."

Tsuna's eyes widened as Noel said the last part. _That sounded like-_

"_Do it with you dying will."_

_-something Reborn would say._

_Are you __**really **__him?_

"Well, I suppose we're done here." Noel said, smirking as he opened the door and left. "See you later, Dame-Tsuna."

Tsuna wanted to stop him, wanted to ask _one _more thing before he left. But he didn't know how to phrase it, how to say it without making it seemed as if he was still hopeful, as if he wasn't still believing in impossible things that were utterly _Dame-Tsuna _like.

_Who __**are**__ you?_

-(X)-

And that's chapter 5! What do you think of it? Good? Bad? _Please tell me!_ I'll accept any kind of review, be it insults, critics or flames!

_**MORE REVIEWS=FASTER UPDATES**_

Fun Facts:

-S.D.F stands for Self Defense Force. It's Japan's unified military force that was established after the end of the post-World War 2 Allied occupation of Japan. This happened because Japan lost to the Allied Powers and had to dismiss their military forces, no longer allowed to reassemble it. However, as they still need defense for the country, Japan formed the S.D.F.

-The word _'nostalgia' _came from the Greek compound consisting of _νόστος (nóstos)_, meaning _"homecoming" _and _ἄλγος (álgos)_, meaning _"pain, ache"._ It was described as a medical condition, a form of melancholy, in the Early Modern period.

Thank you for reading this! See you in the next chapter! ^ _ ^

The Storyteller of Dreams


	6. Scarlet Geranium

Title: Flowers of Forgetfulness

Summary: It has been a year since the Representative War ended, since Reborn and the Arcobalenos died. Now Tsuna, in the third year of middle school, has accepted his role fully as Decimo. But what are seven supposedly dead people doing in Namimori? Are they truly the Arcobaleno? Or are they simply familiar strangers? An AU of the end of the Curse of the Rainbow Arc.

Author: The Storyteller of Dreams

Betareader: AlIa-17

Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

: D Seems like a lot of people like the girls in the last chapter. I'm glad, because we're going to see them do more of their stuff in the second arc. By the way, Kyoko and Haru are in the Special Intelligence Division as a hacker/informant and spy respectively. Kyoko hasn't 'graduated' yet, but Haru has and occasionally get sent to do some simple, local missions. Hana is in the Legal Division, she's the one they sent to smooth out legalities and be a lawyer, you know? But she helps Haru out on her missions and firmly believes to be well-prepared in case of an attack, hence the guns.

Of course, Tsuna and the boys have _absolutely _no idea on what they're doing. Only Bianchi, Chrome and a few people in the Vongola knows this and the girls would hide their real names with codenames.

Moving on, you guys are wondering who_ exactly _is Noel? ; ) I'm not telling the answer to that. You have to read and find out yourself.

Finally, the Guardians _will _appear. In fact, two of them will appear in this chapter!

Without further ado, introducing Gokudera Hayato and Dokuro Chrome!

-(X)-

Chapter 6: Scarlet Geranium

_Scarlet Geranium: Consolation, melancholy_

-(X)-

.

.

.

_Gokudera Hayato wondered about the meaning of loyalty._

_He knew the text book definition. It's the state or quality of being loyal, the faithfulness to commitments and obligations. As the Storm Guardian and right-hand man of Vongola Decimo, his duties were to ensure the Tenth's safety and making sure that everything would run smoothly even without the boss' presence. However, as a __**friend **__and __**family**__, Hayato's duties were to make sure that Tsuna would be happy and content, that he would smile and not worry about them._

_But, as Hayato watched, unable to help his boss, __**friend **__and __**family **__as he burns himself out in his endless search for the missing group, he couldn't help but felt that he was disloyal. He was supposed to ensure the Tenth's safety, but as Tsuna was rushed to Ryohei again, after fighting a relatively small Family with great firepower who tried to attack the Vongola Decimo due to thinking he was weak without his tutor's protection, he felt that he had failed the duty of a Storm Guardian and right-hand man. As Hayato watched his first friend's warm brown eyes turned lifeless after the Arcobaleno were declared dead, he felt that he failed his duties as a friend and family. _

_What __**was**__ he if he kept __**failing**__ at his duties?_

_**Damn it, why can't I do anything right!?**_

_Hayato didn't __**want **__to fail. He didn't want to give up on his boss, the one who accepted him for who he was and gave him a place to belong. But __**what **__could he __**do**__? As the silver-haired teen sat and looked at his boss' empty seat in class, he cursed himself. He felt angry, at himself for being so __**helpless,**__ angry at Reborn and the other Arcobaleno who __**died **__and left this mess to the living, and even, guiltily, at __**Tsuna**__ who did not see how his actions __**hurt **__them too._

_Hayato wanted nothing more than to __**scream **__in frustration at his own __**helplessness**__, his own __**weakness**__. __**Why **__couldn't he do the __**simple **__act of __**cheering a friend up**__? He wanted nothing more than to comfort the Tenth, but all the words and carefully crafted phrases in his mind would die at his lips when he saw those __**dull**__, brown eyes staring into him._

_He couldn't __**stand **__it. The Tenth he admired shouldn't look so __**weak**__ and __**vulnerable. **__Tsuna was __**bright **__and __**warm**__, the home they would all return to at the end of the day. He was the one who cared for them through thick and thin and made them into a Family and __**family**__._

_The thing was, their home was lost now, and they were lost along with it._

_Hayato was grateful for whatever Kyoko did. He didn't know what the Tenth's love interest did, but he saw the results. Tsuna was __**here**__ for the first time in __**weeks**__, he was finally in class. The Storm Guardian felt guilty and angry at himself that he couldn't do anything before, that he didn't know where his boss went to everyday, alone. But he forced himself to push away that bitterness, if only for now._

_Now would be __**his **__turn to help the boss._

_So on the rooftop, where he saw the brunet leaned on the railings, brown eyes __**dull **__and __**lifeless**__, Hayato gulped, a bit nervous, but steeled himself and approached the Tenth. There was no one else around, they were alone. So no one saw how the silver-haired teen walked towards the brunet and suddenly hugged him, earning a yelp of surprise from Tsuna._

_Hayato couldn't express his solace properly through words, as they always died on his lips when he faced the brunet, so he hoped that this act would at least provide __**some **__measure of comfort to his friend._

"_I'm __**so sorry**__, Tenth." He said sincerely, regretfully, embracing the brunet who stilled suddenly. He poured his wish, his __**hope **__into the next sentence, saying it in such a way that Tsuna couldn't hear his words as nothing else but the truth. "Everything will be ok, it'll be __**alright**__…"_

_The Tenth stood still, shocked, but then his fingers fisted his shirt, almost desperately so, and Tsuna __**cried**__. Hayato merely let him do so, holding him close despite all the minute tremors and shakes the brunet's body did._

_After all, he remembered his late mother's lesson._

"_**A good hug is the best sort of comfort you can give to a sad person, my dear Hayato."**_

-(X)-

Hayato was _not _a patient man. Normally, his patience would extend only to the Tenth. However, this old man in front of him was currently stretching the Storm Guardian's already thin patience to the limits.

"Look, what about 3,000 yen for the usual bunch of dynamites with an added bonus of a couple C-4?" The man in front of him, Nobunigo Hideo, said, a greedy glint in his eyes. Hideo wasn't _exactly _an old man as Hayato previously described him as, being in his mid-40s at best. He has scars all over his body, a testament to his past, and wore a simple black eyepatch over one eye. However, despite his scarred look, a smile would always be on his face.

That didn't mean however, that smile was a _nice _one.

"I'm not looking to blowing up a couple of blocks, old man." The silver-haired teen replied gruffly, annoyed. They had been on this for _hours_ and they hadn't reached a conclusion yet. Hayato wanted to groan, but restrained himself as to not look like an undignified Vongola Storm Guardian. Hideo might use being a mechanic as a cover, but he's actually one of the world's best arms dealer, so Hayato was forced to maintain a professional façade.

The greedy old man spotted a business opportunity when he heard that the Vongola Decimo lived in Japan, Namimori, and consequently moved here.

"Well then…" Hideo leered, leaning against a table. They were inside the secret arms dealer office for this conversation. No need for the public to realize about the deal two men in the underworld was about to struck, given time, after all. "What about this? 3,500 yen for your usual stock of dynamites, around a couple dozen mini dynamites and some bottles of nitroglycerin, eh?

Hayato was about to reply, when a knock could be heard from the door. Hideo shifted, standing up, and said. "Come in."

A purple-haired boy, probably a couple or more years younger than Hayato, peeked into the office, a bit shy. Hayato raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised. The boy looked like the Cloud Arcobaleno, Skull, but younger, and without the studs and makeup. He wondered if his appearance was connected to Noel's and Alex's, who looked too much like Reborn and Colonello for comfort. Following that train of thought, he hoped that the Tenth would be alright. Tsuna looked so _shocked _when he saw them, and Hayato wondered if he would revert back to how he was the following months after the Arcobaleno deaths.

He didn't, however, and Hayato felt proud that his boss and friend managed to keep it together so well.

"What's wrong, Vaan?" Hideo smiled at him, but this one warm and friendly, if a bit grandfatherly. Hayato blinked at the sight.

"Ah…I finished for today, Hideo-san." Vaan said, with uncharacteristic quietness if he really _was _Skull. "I'm going home now."

"Very well, Vaan." The arms dealer nodded. "But are you going home alone? I heard that some rather _nasty_ people are out killing indiscriminately today. Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"Don't worry, Hideo-san." A voice said, and the door widened a bit more to reveal a certain dark-haired new student to Namimori Middle. Noel walked in. "I'm going with him, I'm his older brother."

Vaan nodded, tugging the older boy forward to meet the older man, who looked at Noel with an unreadable glint in his eyes. "This is my older brother, Noel-nii. Noel-nii, meet my teacher, Hideo-san."

"Chaos." The teen greeted the scarred man, tilting his head slightly.

"Hello, Noel." Hideo said, something odd in his voice. "Interesting, you look so much like someone I knew. I thought that Vaan would be only one…"

The dark-haired boy groaned, and Hayato blinked, that wasn't what Reborn would do. The greatest hitman in the world wouldn't _groan_ that easily. That was such an _un-Reborn like _act for someone who looked so much like the hitman.

"Not _again_." Noel sighed, annoyed, rubbing a hand over his eyes. "Don't tell me, I look a lot like _Reborn_."

"Oh, you know him?" Hideo questioned, a bit surprised and looked at him thoughtfully. "What do you know about Reborn?"

Noel frowned slightly, shrugging. "I just heard that name today. All I know was that he and some other people died."

"I see…"He said, shooting a slightly bewildered, but contemplative look at the dark-haired boy.

"So…can I go home, Hideo-san?" Vaan said, much more quietly and politely than his Arcobaleno counterpart. Hayato was getting confused now, they _looked _like the Arcobaleno, but _acted differently _than them.

"Of course you may." Hideo smiled kindly, however his eyes glinted unreadably when he looked at Noel. "I'll see you tomorrow, Vaan."

"See you later, Hideo-san." The purple-haired boy replied, lips quirking up in a small, but sincere smile. He tugged his older brother out, and Noel let him, though the older boy glanced back at them curiously, quietly.

Once the two were out, Hayato spoke up, looking at the closed doors thoughtfully. "What are you thinking about, Hideo-san?"

"Hmm…" The scarred man merely hummed, not revealing anything. Hideo shook his head, grinning slightly as he looked at the confused Storm Guardian. "Nothing you need to know, brat."

"Now…" The arms dealer grinned, the greedy look back in his eyes. "What about our deal?

-(X)-

Ever since the girls decided to join the Vongola secretly, she has to be the middle woman between them and Tsuna. Chrome didn't mind, as she found it nice to be needed. Though she guessed that Mukuro knew of what the girls were doing, being connected with her, but chose to remain silent on that subject. She was grateful, as that helped them a great deal.

That was why, in the morning after Noel's and Alex's arrival, she stood in front of Tsuna, a file in her hand and her bag in the other. Her boss looked confused at the file, but he smiled warmly at her like he always did for his family and Family.

"Good morning, Chrome-chan." He greeted her when she approached him.

"Good morning, Boss." She greeted back, smiling a bit shyly at him. Despite all of his attempts, the eyepatch-wearing girl insisted on using that title and the brunet, reluctantly, gave up trying to convince her otherwise. She handed him the file, which he accepted with a bemused look. "Yesterday, I asked my friends about the new students, to check if they have any links to the Arcobaleno."

Tsuna straightened in his seat at that, eyes gaining that sharp look. Chrome could see little flickers of amber in his eyes. "And what did they get?"

She shook her head, sad to be the one to break this to him. "It came back negative. The details are in there, but they said that it seemed to be impossible for them to be the Arcobaleno."

"I see…" Tsuna said, eyes turning sad, and Chrome wanted nothing more than to help him, to make his wish come true. But you couldn't change the truth, it was there in the file he opened, written in black on white.

They remained quiet after that, the brunet reading the file in his hands and Chrome sitting on the empty seat in front of him. It was early in the morning, so no one but them was inside the classroom. Chrome could hear the birds chirping outside, singing their morning song as they greet the new day in the only way they knew how. The morning rays of the sun danced around them, lighting up the classroom with natural light. It was a nice day, Chrome decided.

"I see…" Tsuna said after he finished reading, voice oddly quiet, eyes downcast. "I knew that they couldn't be them. This matches perfectly with what Noel said to me yesterday."

Hearing the sadness in his voice, Chrome wanted nothing more than to cheer him up, stop him from sounding so resigned. He was her boss, her friend and _family_. Tsuna accepted her first, even though Mukuro gave her a chance to live. The brunet had helped her when she was down, giving her food during the days she was in Kokuyo Land and helped her adjust to living with the Sasagawas. Even going so far as to sign her up to be a stage magician in some entertainment agency when she stated that she no longer want to borrow or be given money from him, Kyoko or anyone else. He was their _Sky_, and as one of his Guardians and friends, Chrome felt she has a duty to ensure her boss' happiness.

_But illusions only hide the truth, no matter how real it seems. It can't change it._

And that was a fact Chrome both regretted and was frustrated over.

"I'm sorry, Boss." She said the only comforting thing she could say in this situation.

"It's alright, Chrome-chan." He smiled at her, but it looked faint, tinged with melancholy. "It's not your fault. I was just being no-good again in believing impossible things. Hahaha…"

Hearing his self-deprecating laugh and his words, made Chrome frown slightly. "You're _not _no-good, Boss. It's not a fault for believing in things like that. Even if it's impossible, Reborn-san was an important person to you, so it's alright to hope for such things."

She stated it firmly; in such a way that he couldn't deny her. Chrome had changed since a year ago. She became more firm, more determined and confident, and it was all because of the friends and Family she now has. Her life as Chrome was a much better one than her life as Nagi, and the Mist Guardian didn't want the person who accepted her to be so _sad_.

Tsuna blinked, surprised at her words, but he smiled afterwards. It looked a bit better than the one before, more real and happy. That's good, Chrome thought, he shouldn't look so melancholic.

"Thanks, Chrome-chan." He said softly, smiling a bit more.

"No problem, Boss." She replied, returning that smile with one of her own.

A companionable silence fell on them after that, the sound of chirping birds returning again. Chrome was more than happy to let this silence continue, but a thought nagged inside her head. Finally, unable to rein it in, she asked curiously. "Boss, you talked with Noel yesterday? How was it?"

The brunet let out an awkward laugh at her question, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "Well…it went well, relatively…I guess…"

Chrome raised an eyebrow at that, silently asking a question. Tsuna chuckled at that, getting the hint.

"It's…a long story, Chrome-chan." He answered her unspoken question. "I'll tell you later, at recess with the other, ok? But, I learned that I got a new home tutor."

"Oh?" She was surprised. Chrome thought that her boss wouldn't let anyone take Reborn's place. Even Lal didn't, remaining a teacher to the brunet, but didn't taught as much as Reborn. "Who is it?"

"Ah…" The brunet sighed slightly, a bit tiredly and exasperatedly, earning a bemused look from her at the reaction. "It's Noel."

_Oh, so that's why he's not angry._

She gave him a sympathetic look. It was probably not easy having the same person who looked so much like the hitman to take on one of said hitman's roles. "How is it?"

"It's fine…he's not as sadistic as Reborn." Tsuna replied, smiling a bit, but it contrasted with the confusion in his eyes. "But he gave me an evaluation test yesterday, to test which subjects I'm weak at, and I scored a zero at it. He also heard about my past nickname from the agency that sent him. Combined my scores with that, he's going to call me Dame-Tsuna."

"Oh." That was the only thing she could say to that. No one had called Tsuna by that nickname ever since he entered the third year of middle school, having increased his average grades. But to hear that same nickname again, from the one whose appearances was so similar to the person who said it the most, must have induced nostalgia on her boss.

_That explains why he's melancholic._

"He's just teasing me when he says that, though." Her boss continued, sighing a bit. "Either that or he's saying it to encourage me to do better…which is a _lot _like Reborn, now that I think about it."

The brunet sighed, heavier this time, looking at her with confused eyes. "I don't know what to do, Chrome-chan. I'm confused. Noel looked _too much _like Reborn to _not _be him, but I have evidence in my hands that _clearly _stated that he couldn't be him. That's not to mention how he acts. He's like Reborn, but _not_. The best way I could say it is that, he's what Reborn would be as a teen if he wasn't in the mafia."

Chrome nodded at his words. She hadn't interacted with the new student much, but if her boss said so, then it was most likely true. On impulse, she grabbed his hand, which lay on the table, and gripped it reassuringly.

"We're confused too." Chrome admitted, looking straight into his eyes. "But, we're with you. Don't worry, Boss, we'll solve this together."

It was the best thing she could say in this situation. She wished she could say more. She wished that she could say that they _were _the Arcobaleno, but she couldn't do that. So she said the only words she could that would cheer up her boss, her friend and _her family_. No matter what, the Guardians, his friends and family would be with him, through hell or high water. Tsuna wouldn't be alone.

It was the only thing she could assure in this situation, but seeing her boss smile a warm and genuine smile at her, it seemed to be enough.

It was more than enough.

-(X)-

And here's chapter six! So now we met two Guardians and another one of Noel's sibling, Vaan. Vaan's younger that Noel by about three years. Noel's 15, but he's going to turn 16 this year, so Vaan's 13. He's in the sixth grade, the apprentice of Nobunigo Hideo, a mechanic and secretly one of the world's best arms dealer, and his full name is Ambroise Vaan.

_**MORE REVIEW = FASTER UPDATES!**_

Fun Facts:

- Nitroglycerin is a heavy, colourless, oily and explosive liquid. It's usually made by treating glycerol with nitric acid under certain conditions. Chemically speaking, it's more of a nitrate compound than that of a nitro one, but the traditional name remained. Ever since the 1860s, it became an active ingredient for explosives, mostly _dynamites_, and often used in construction, demolition and mining. It's also a major component in double-based smokeless gunpowders used by reloaders.

- C-4 is a common variety of the plastic explosive known as Composition C. it's composed of explosives, plastic binder, plasticizer and usually a marker or odorizing taggant chemical to help detect and identify its source. It can be easily molded into any desired shape and pressed into gaps, cracks or such and is very stable and insensitive to most physical shock, so it can't be detonated by gunshot or by dropping it onto a hard surface. It also couldn't explode when set on fire or exposed to microwave radiation. The only way to activate it is by a combination of extreme heat and shockwave.

- Ambroise came from a Greek word, which means _"immortal"_ (a reference to Skull's nickname, the Immortal Stuntman). It's also close to _ambrosia, _which is the food of Greek gods, often giving ageless immortality to the ones who ate it. Vaan means _"full of life" _in Sanskrit, Indian. It is also the name of a Final Fantasy character (I admit, I originally took it from there). If you take away one of the "a", it'll spell Van, which means in Dutch, _"of" _and _"from"_.

Thank you for reading! I'll see you in the next chapter! ^ _ ^

The Storyteller of Dreams


	7. Hyacinth

Title: Flowers of Forgetfulness

Summary: It has been a year since the Representative War ended, since Reborn and the Arcobalenos died. Now Tsuna, in the third year of middle school, has accepted his role fully as Decimo. But what are seven supposedly dead people doing in Namimori? Are they truly the Arcobaleno? Or are they simply familiar strangers? An AU of the end of the Curse of the Rainbow Arc.

Author: The Storyteller of Dreams

Betareader: AlIa-17

Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

Yosh! I have decided, I'm gonna ignore my usual word limit of around 4,000 words! So from now on, chapters will vary in length, but never below 3,000 or over 10,000 words.

This is for the reviewers who wished to see Yamamoto and Lal!

Oya, I'll skip the flashback for this chapter. Because, one, it's long enough, two, you guys probably got the gist of the past by now and, three, I'm lazy.

Yosh! On to the story! ^ _ ^

-(X)-

Chapter 7: Hyacinth

_Hyacinth: Sport, game, play_

-(X)-

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Takeshi drowned out his classmates' chatter as they assembled inside the gym for PE. The dark-haired teen's mind was on the conversation from before, during recess when Chrome told them of her mysterious friends' findings and Tsuna on his situation with Noel.

"_Noel and Alex can't be the Arcobaleno. It's impossible for them to exist simultaneously with Reborn-san and Colonello-san."_

"_He's my new home tutor."_

The baseball player glanced at Alex and Noel, who, being new students, stood a little farther away than the rest. They were the ones who started all of this, making them all confused and bringing back old wounds. But Takeshi couldn't be angry at them. They didn't know who they resembled nor what they were doing to them.

The dark-haired teen looked at them, noting absently that his friends were doing the same thing, though they only sent glances at them. The new students didn't notice the attention on them, bringing further proof that they couldn't be the Arcobaleno.

_Assassins don't drop their guards so easily._

Still, they looked lonely. Noel stood apart from the class, and though he stood relatively nearby Alex, he observed the other students at a distance. It kind of reminded him of Tsuna, back when the brunet didn't have any friends, always standing away from the rest. Noel's loneliness wasn't as apparent as Tsuna's was, most likely because he was with his brother, but as Alex was dragged away to talk by a group of students, Takeshi could see that it was there.

Funny, it sort of reminded him of Tsuna and Reborn. In hindsight, they were quite alike.

_Tsuna will deny this if he hears it._

Chuckling quietly at his own thoughts, he looked at Alex. The blond was lonely too, and was probably regretting letting himself be dragged away, if Takeshi read the occasional glances he sent to the other teen correctly. Alex was friendly though, and cheerfully chatted with the group of students, a grin on his face. It reminded Takeshi of himself, before he met Tsuna. He was popular, yes, but he didn't have any real friends prior to the brunet.

There was a certain kind of loneliness in that, one that Takeshi was familiar with.

Which was why he broke away from his, or more accurately, _Tsuna's_, group for a bit and walked towards them. They noticed his presence, Noel focusing his attention on him and Alex directing a not-quite-genuine grin at him. The Rain Guardian didn't mind it, smiling cheerfully instead.

"Hey, I'm Yamamoto Takeshi, but call me Takeshi. Want to talk?"

-(X)-

It was a good plan with equally good intention. Just talk with the new students and introduce them to his friends. Barring Tsuna, none of them had the chance to talk with them yet and they were curious of the teens that looked much like the Arcobaleno.

Generally, good plans failed.

"Hey, I'm Altair Alexander, but call me Alex, kora!" The blond that looked like Colonello said, grinning as he pointed with his thumb at his younger brother. "And this shorty-_Ow!_"

The other new student ignored Alex's yelp as he stomped on his toes hard. As the blond hopped on one leg, cursing the other teen, Noel smoothly continued the introduction, acting as if he hadn't interrupted his brother. "I'm Corvino Noel. Call me Noel. I'm this baka's younger brother."

"That hurts, bastard, kora!"

"Then don't call me short, you kora-addled idiot!"

Takeshi grinned. Good plans generally failed, but this one was shaping up to be a fine one. The introduction went fairly well. He ignored the questioning looks sent his way by the others as the brothers continued to argue.

"Alright kids! Pay attention!" Their teacher suddenly spoke up, breaking off the argument between Noel and Alex, silencing the class. "Today, we're going to play dodgeball!"

There was a ripple of murmurs following that statement. Some groaned while others grinned, happy at the thought of playing. Alex belonged in the latter while Tsuna was in the former. The others' faces were in varying states of neutral. Takeshi himself was grinning, already enjoying the thought of the game.

"Since there are 27 of you, divide yourselves into three groups of nine." The teacher said after the murmurs died down. "Then pick a representative and they will draw lots on who's going to play first. Two teams will play first, the one who wins that match will play against the other team. Then the other team will play against the one that lost. Any questions?"

There were none, so the teacher nodded and dismissed them for now. "Good! Make your teams in 5 minutes and send me your representative by then!"

With that, the students started to drift towards their friends, talking and chatting all the while. Takeshi grinned as he turned to look at Tsuna. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that they would be a team. They were already Family, after all. But with the Guardians, girls and Tsuna, that would only be seven. They still needed two more…

His gaze slid to the two teens, who stood a bit apart from them. Neither of them looked comfortable, Noel moreso than Alex. Takeshi could sympathize with them. They were the new students, they didn't know any of the people here, didn't know who would accept them. It was an awkward and uncomfortable situation to be in.

Before the baseball player could ask them to join their team, Tsuna had beat him to it.

"Do you guys want to join our team?" The brunet asked, a bit timidly.

"Sure!" Alex replied instantly, enthusiastically.

Noel was much more subdued, and was smiling gratefully at the brunet. "Thanks, Tsuna."

"Ah-its no problem." Said brunet blinked, a bit awkward and surprised by the display of gratitude. Takeshi wasn't surprised that he reacted this way. Reborn rarely, if ever, showed his feelings openly, so it was disconcerting to see Noel doing so.

"Right!" Alex suddenly said, interrupting his thoughts. "If we're going to be in your team, we might as well tell you guys how we play so that we can win, kora!"

Noel sighed from beside him, quietly muttering under his breath. "As competitive as ever."

His words went mostly unheard as the blond cheerfully explained. "I'm a good thrower, but I don't pay attention well, so I need people to warn me about the balls. Usually, I leave that job to this-" He tilted his head towards the dark-haired teen beside him. "-smartass here, kora. He can't throw well, but _damn_ can he dodge balls."

"It's easy." His younger brother said, shrugging, looking a bit shy under all the sudden attention casted on him. "Just read their movements and calculate the angles and trajectories of the balls. Easy."

"For you maybe. Not all of us can do calculus in our heads while studying Chinese and all that." Alex scoffed at the younger's understatement, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "And not all of us can read minds, kora."

"You can read minds!?" Tsuna nearly shrieked, moving slightly away from Noel. It was most likely a reaction from his time with Reborn.

"No, I'm not a psychic. That's Jinx-nee." Noel deadpanned, rolling his eyes at the brunet. "I can read _people_. There's a difference in that. Right now, you're probably thinking…" He inspected Tsuna, his face, expression and body language. "…that I'm acting a lot like Reborn, right?"

From the way Tsuna turned red, Takeshi guessed that Noel was correct. That was impressive…and _really _like the hitman he resembled.

"How did you know!?" The brunet questioned, surprised and shocked.

"You're too open, Dame-Tsuna." Noel said teasingly, grinning slightly at Tsuna's expression. Takeshi blinked.

_If he's Reborn-san, he would have scolded Tsuna. But he didn't. Guess he really __**isn't **__Reborn-san._

Well, that was disappointing, but you have to face facts.

"Five minutes up! Send your representatives and we'll see who will play first!" Their teacher shouted, breaking the collective chatter of the class.

Without a doubt, Hayato nominated Tsuna. "The Tenth should go ahead!"

Hana shrugged. "Why not? Go ahead, Tsuna."

The others voiced their agreements. The new students followed them, though Noel looked as if he wanted to ask something. Eventually, Tsuna relented and accepted the task, smiling at them with a fondly exasperated expression on his face.

As Tsuna walked towards the teacher, Takeshi turned to the other dark-haired teen and asked. "What's wrong, Noel?"

"Hmm?" The other blinked, slightly surprised at the question. "Ah, I was just wondering why Tsuna is called the Tenth."

"That's because Tenth is the heir to the Vongola." Hayato explained. "He's going to be the tenth boss."

"He's going to be the boss of a multinational company?" Noel looked surprised at that, just like his brother. They nodded and Noel couldn't help but said, slightly bemused. "Wow…I didn't expect _that_."

Technically, it wasn't a lie. The Vongola really _was _a multinational company, but that was just a cover to hide what it _really _is. By having a legal front, the Family didn't need to deal with the general underworld business, like drug dealing or weapons manufacturing. They have their own source of revenue that funds the large Family legally. Takeshi noted, amused, that there was irony in a mafia empire being funded through legal means.

_Then again, we're not your average mafia Family._

What Noel and Alex now knew wasn't incorrect, but it wasn't the whole truth either.

It should do for now.

When Tsuna returned, he looked downcast. Takeshi was immediately worried, and so did the rest of his friends. Even the new students, who just recently met the brunet, looked faintly concerned.

"I…" The brunet started, eyes shaded by his bangs. They got increasingly worried, but then Tsuna lifted his head and looked at them. "Drew the first team!"

There was a collective silence at that. Everyone blinked, digesting the news.

Then…

"Yeah!" Alex pumped a fist to the air. "First team for first place!"

Noel sighed, as if resigned to his fate, like Hana did. The other girls seemed cheerful at the news while Hayato supported Alex's words.

"He's right, Tenth! First team means first place!"

"Hahaha, Hayato, you're pretty fired up."

"Shut up, baseball freak! I'm just supporting the Tenth!"

As their words slowly dissolved into a one-sided argument, Noel sidled close to Tsuna, who has the exasperated look of someone who has seen the same thing for hundreds of times and knew that there would be hundreds more.

"Do they _always_ do this?" The dark-haired teen asked, looking at them as Hayato turned red in anger and Takeshi continued to laugh it off.

Tsuna sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, as if he had a headache. "You have _no _idea."

"I think I do." Noel replied back, glancing at his blond brother. "It's like Alex and I, or Feng-nii and Jinx-nee. Jinx-nee _always _misunderstands Feng-nii's advances and will go angry on him." The fedora-wearing, though he removed the hat for PE, teen said, looking amused. "Jinx-nee is _such _a tsundere when around Feng-nii. It's funny to watch."

"I see." Tsuna nodded, until he suddenly realized the implications of his words. "Wait, are you saying that Hayato and Takeshi are a _couple!?_"

"No!" The other boy made a choking noise at that, looking incredulously at the brunet. "I just described them as alike to Alex and I and Feng-nii and Jinx-nee! I _mean _that they argue like siblings because one of them completely misunderstands what the other says!"

"O-oh…" Tsuna replied, blushing red in embarrassment.

"Geez, I can't believe that you…" The other boy shook his head, cheeks tinted slightly red for the same reason Tsuna was. Suddenly, a thought seemed to strike the other boy and Noel turned to look at the brunet with a serious, deadpan expression. "Are you a yaoi fanboy?"

It took a moment for Tsuna to comprehend the question, and when he did, the brunet reacted just as well as we expected him to.

"_HIEEEE!?"_

Noel clamped his hands on his ears as Tsuna's screech pierced his ears. It drew the others' attention, but the dark-haired teen assured and waved them off. They reluctantly did so, and when they're away, Noel looked at the brunet whose face was beet red now.

"I-I'm not…" Tsuna stammered, face as red as a tomato.

"It's alright. Well, it's _weird_, but it's alright…I think." Noel's sympathetic look and words somehow made it _worse_. "Skye's a yaoi fangirl. Jinx-nee is one too, but she's also, strangely, a yuri fan too."

"I am _not a yaoi fanboy!_" Tsuna shrieked, unable to take it anymore.

And _damn it_, Tsuna cursed inwardly, Noel looked _genuinely surprised_.

That lowered his self-esteem a bit.

"Oh, you're not?" The teen who looked like Reborn-though Tsuna couldn't think of him as the hitman right now, not when he just questioned him of being a _yaoi fan_- said, looking faintly relieved. "Thank goodness. It's scarring enough with two sisters as yaoi fans-sometimes they forget to place their doujinshis away-but it'll be even _more _awkward when a friend-a male one too-was into the same thing."

"O-oh…" The brunet replied at the explanation, his blush slowly fading away. "Why did you think I was into _that?_"

"You're the one who pointed out the 8059 pairing when there wasn't any." Noel said, crossing his arms. "I didn't imply any pairing, except for Feng-nii and Jinx-nee, and they're a het pairing. So it was you, Dame-Tsuna."

"A-ah, right…" Tsuna said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, they're most certainly _not _a couple. I think I would know if they are."

"Alright." Noel nodded, sighing in relief.

"Yeah…" Tsuna sighed too, before he asked. "…Wait, where did you get the numbers?"

"From their last names, Yamamoto and Gokudera." The dark-haired teen explained. "80 and 59, see? I grew up with two sisters who love this kind of stuff, so I got used to their slash terms. Besides, it's normal for a fandom to name their pairings. Like in Pokemon, they have Ferriswheelshipping, Advanceshipping and so on."

"I guess so…" The brunet agreed, though he was still confused. "Wait, what fandom?"

"The _fandom_, of course." Noel rolled his eyes, as if Tsuna didn't understand the _obvious _thing. "I'm sure that, somewhere, in some alternate universe, someone is writing about us. That means that there's _got _to be a fandom that story belongs to, which means there's got to be _pairings_. Get it, Dame-Tsuna?"

Tsuna couldn't reply, he could only stare at Noel, confused. The one who looked eerily similar to Reborn sighed, a bit annoyed.

"Guess knowledge of the fourth wall broke him." Noel mused, waving a hand in front of the brunet. "Wait, that means that I'm _breaking the fourth wall_. Cool!"

Tsuna stared at him blankly, feeling incredulous. One thought crossed his mind.

_He's as crazy as Reborn!_

Unaware, or ignoring his thoughts, Noel glanced at the others, then snapped his fingers in front of the brunet. "Oi, looks like we're going to start soon. Snap out of it, Dame-Tsuna."

Said teen blinked. "W-wha-oh…"

"Come on, Tsuna." The other teen said, looking amused as he walked away.

Looking at the teen's back, Tsuna suddenly remembered something he had said. "Wait!"

Noel stopped, looking at his curiously over a shoulder. "What, Tsuna?"

"You said 'it'll be awkward when a friend'." Tsuna said, recalling his words. "Does that mean I'm your friend?"

"Dame-Tsuna." Noel sighed, but his lips quirked up in an amused smirk. "Isn't it obvious? Of course you are. Now come on, they're waiting."

"Right…" Tsuna blinked, surprised at the easy admission. A smile slowly bloomed on his face, until it became a wide grin. He felt _happy_, ridiculously and strangely so. He didn't know exactly _why, _but he was pleased with Noel's answer.

_Reborn wouldn't say something like that so openly._

_He wouldn't tease or joke around me like Noel did._

_Noel…isn't Reborn._

Tsuna knew that before, but it was only now that it had truly hit him.

The moments of nostalgia still hurts, still bittersweet, but now…

Now, Tsuna realized, as he smiled and ran towards his friends, Noel and Alex included, he didn't really mind that the dark-haired teen wasn't Reborn.

-(X)-

With a deep breath, Lal opened the door to the shooting range.

She steeled herself, making sure that she wouldn't lose her composure so easily again.

When she entered, the owner immediately saw her and stood to greet her. "Mirch-san! I'm so sorry for what happened yesterday-"

"I should be the one saying that." She cut him off, raising a hand to stop his protests. "I'm the one who left suddenly. It wasn't your fault."

"Very well, Mirch-san…" He reluctantly nodded. "But I'm still sorry. I didn't realize that Alex would trigger something like that. I can make sure that you won't see him again if you want."

"That won't be necessary." Lal shook her head, eyes scanning the range for any signs of the blond. "Where is he anyway?"

"Alex is still at school." The owner answered, musing slightly. "He seems to be a good kid, if not a bit too enthusiastic at times. He works to help his siblings. They're orphans, so they don't have any parents to support them."

"I see…" The former CEDEF member said absently. It was exactly like what Tsuna told her, after she returned home later than usual yesterday. The brunet told her about the new students, how they looked exactly like Colonello and Reborn, if teenagers. He told her of his talk with Noel and how he would be his new home tutor. Lal was interested in how _that _would turned out. If Noel was like Reborn, but not _exactly_, she wondered how much would be the same and how much would be different.

"_Alex will probably be like that too. Sometimes, he'll probably be like Colonello, and other times he'll be…well, __**him**__."_

That was what Tsuna guessed. She wondered, how much would Alex be different from Colonello?

And would that be for the best?

Lal couldn't answer that yet.

"Guess I'll have to wait for him." Lal murmured to herself, but the owner of the range heard her.

"Oh? You want to meet him?" He asked, to which she nodded at. "It'll be a few hours before he comes here. Why don't you go and practice? I still have your weapons here after you left them yesterday. I'll take them out now."

"That's a good idea." She nodded and the owner left to retrieve her guns. With him gone, Lal let out a sigh, sounding tired, yet anxious.

Lal was relieved that she wouldn't have to face Alex so soon, the person who reminded her _too much _of the one she both wanted, yet _did not want_, to remember. At the same time, she was restless, anxious.

Lal wasn't looking forward to her meeting with Alex, but it was something she_ must _do.

-(X)-

The way they met again was much alike to yesterday's meeting.

Alex walked towards her as she shot target after target down with her handgun. She noticed his presence immediately, the grip on her gun tightened slightly, but she remained focused on her shooting. On his part, Alex was quiet this time and merely watched her. Lal could feel his blue eyes, so familiar, yet so _foreign_, on her and she suppressed a shiver at that. Instead, she continued to shoot and only when she was out of bullets did she turned and acknowledge his presence.

Even as prepared as she was, Lal still had to hold in a gasp as she looked at Alex.

It was like seeing a ghost, or perhaps a real illusion. But Lal would notice if someone had cast an illusion on her, being one of the I Prescelti Sette, the Strongest Seven in the world. Besides, no illusion could possibly _this _real. There was no illusionist in the world that could replicate the exact shade of blue of Colonello's eyes, the way the light caught on his hair or his smile. These were all things Lal knew as well as the back of her hand. No illusionists could _possibly_ know all this.

Lal wished there was one. It's easier to blame it on an illusionist than face a stranger with a familiar face.

"Umm…hi?" Alex said, looking awkward and a bit shy. Not that Lal could blame him, knowing what she did yesterday. "You wanted to talk to me, kora?"

"Yes." She nodded, but her mind was blank of any topics. Now that Alex was really _here_, she found it hard to remember what she wanted to talk about.

_God, he looks so much like __**him**__._

Alex shifted, the silence that stretched between felt awkward, a bit restless with a hint of a sweeping undercurrent that none of them know how deep it was. Lal felt her heart beats faster, louder, so much so that she could hear in in her ears.

Unable to stand it any longer, she took a deep breath and said. "I'm sorry for running out like that yesterday."

"Uh-what?" The blond in front of her blinked, surprised. An apology was probably the last thing he expected.

"I'm sorry for running out on you like that." She repeated. "It was rude of me. I'm sorry, but you looked like someone I knew."

"It's alright, kora." Alex said, grinning and simply shrugging it off. "Everyone make mistakes, but still…why are a lot of people in Namimori seems to think we're someone else?"

"Oh?"

"Yesterday, Noel talked to Tsuna who said that he looks like this Reborn guy and I was like Colonello, the same person you mentioned." He explained, tone musing and slightly wondering. "Then later, when the smartass picked Vaan up, another guy said that he looked like Reborn and Vaan was like someone he knew, kora. Now this again, really, it makes us wonder."

"Well, we can't help it." Lal replied, shrugging, even as her heart was pounding. "You do looks a lot like him, just younger, or older."

Alex blinked. "Younger or older? Which one? You can't be both."

Suppressing an incredulous laugh-because Lal had first-hand experience on _that_-, she replied. "Of course you can, when you're one of them."

"You're weird." The blond deadpanned, and something in that reply made her heart clench. He didn't believe her. Unaware of the internal conflict in her, Alex grinned. "But you seem nice, and cute, kora! Want to start over?"

"What?" She asked, confused. It may seem like a simple question for him, but it felt like a loaded one to her. There was _something_ in that question, something he didn't seem aware of but Lal was.

"Start over, because our introduction yesterday was…well, you know." Alex said, grinning as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. He extended a hand. "So here we are again, kora! I'm Altair Alexander, but you can call me Alex."

Lal looked at the extended hand, then up to his grinning face and hopeful blue eyes. She couldn't believe that this was happening.

It was _almost _like she was being given a second chance.

But Lal knew second chances didn't exist, at least not for _this_. However, she also knew that she would be foolish to deny something that felt akin to closure and a new beginning.

So she took his hand and held it firmly, almost afraid that if she let go he would disappear like Colonello did. Alex didn't seem to mind, grinning brighter.

"I'm Lal. Mirch Lal. It's nice to meet you, Alex."

-(X)-

And that's chapter 7! Here's Yamamoto and Lal guys!

LOL! Aah…I laughed as I was writing Noel's words in the first part (inwardly, of course, it'll look weird in class if I laughed outloud). _"Are you a yaoi fanboy?" _LOL…and the 8059 thing, I was lampshading on the pairing. _**However**_, I do _not _really _mean _to write it _that _way. If you guys see it as a confirmation of a pairing, then be my guest. If you don't want to see it _that _way, then you don't have to. You're free to see it as you wish.

Guys, I have a tumblr account now! I just started it up, so it's still sparse. You can find me there as thestorytellerofdreams (Yes, my pen name).

Hmm, I have a feeling that my writing quality has been going down since chapter 3 ; _ ; . So how was this chapter? Please tell me your thoughts! I don't care if it's flames, insults or critics, I'll accept them all!

_**MORE REVIEWS = FASTER UPDATES**_

Fun Facts:

- Ferriswheelshipping is a Pokemon pairing from the games. They paired NxTouko (female player in Pokemon Black/White). It's named after the Ferris wheel ride that N took your character to. Since Ferris wheel rides are considered romantic…well, you guys get the gist.

- Advanceshipping is another Pokemon pairing, but from the anime this time instead of the game. They paired Ash and May up. One of the favourite scenes of an Advanceshipper is the one where Ash and May were swimming and gets surrounded by Luvdiscs (heart-shaped Water pokémons that is said to bring love to those who see it with another). It's named after the season May was featured in.

Incidentally, I support both pairings. Go Ferriswheelshipping and Advanceshipping!

Thank you for reading! See you in the next chapter! ^ _ ^

The Storyteller of Dreams


	8. Iris

Title: Flowers of Forgetfulness

Summary: It has been a year since the Representative War ended, since Reborn and the Arcobalenos died. Now Tsuna, in the third year of middle school, has accepted his role as Decimo fully. But what are seven supposedly dead people doing in Namimori? Are they truly the Arcobaleno? Or are they simply familiar strangers? An AU of the end of the Curse of the Rainbow Arc. I don't own the pic.

Author: The Storyteller of Dreams

Betareader: AlIa-17

Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

^ _ ^ Thank you very much for your support! I'm glad that my quality hasn't gone down yet…Here's chapter eight for all my lovely reviewers! : D

And I finally found a cover! However, I don't own the pic. Check out re-revolution com for it. Sadly, I don't get any idea of what they say there as it's in Japanese - _ -

Warning: Long chapter is long.

Enjoy!

-(X)-

Chapter 8: Iris

_Iris: Message, a promise of hope, valor and wisdom_

-(X)-

.

.

.

"Eh? You're not coming home with me?"

Noel shook his head as he packed up, letting his bag slung diagonally over one shoulder and rest at his side. "No, I can't. Yesterday I could because Jinx-nee was watching over Leo. But now that she has a job, I have to look after Strawberry until either she or Alex returns from work."

"Why don't you just bring him over?" Tsuna asked, wondering absently which Arcobaleno would Leo looked like. Noel mentioned that he was smart, a genius like him, and an inventor. Verde? That was the most likely possibility.

"You're kidding, right?" Noel shot him a look that said that he was questioning his sanity. Tsuna blinked, not understanding why he would look at him that way.

"No, I'm not." The brunet replied, putting the last of his things away and heaving his bag onto his back. "What's wrong with my suggestion?"

"There's nothing _wrong _with it, per say." The dark-haired teen muttered as they walked out of the classroom. Tsuna waved his friends goodbye as Noel talked to Alex about something. Tsuna turned to face him just in time to see the blond's eyes widen at whatever Noel had said.

"Whoa, _really¸_Tsuna?" Alex turned to looked at him, questioning but with a hint of amazement. "You're _seriously _letting Leo over to your place, kora? Especially with _this _coffee-addicted smartass along?"

The last words were accompanied with a thumb pointed at Noel, who merely sighed, as if accepting of whatever Alex accused him of being. Tsuna was confused. "There's nothing wrong with letting another kid come…_right_?"

The two shared a look, or rather Alex was giving the look to Noel, who looked slightly sheepish for some reason. The blond questioned his younger brother. "Please tell me you're not seriously considering this, kora?"

"Why not? I'm just going to teach Tsuna. Leo can amuse himself while I do that. It's simple." The younger tried to argue, but it was clear that neither of them believed that.

"Simple." Alex deadpanned, crossing his arms. He didn't look angry…merely exasperated and slightly amused while Noel's cheeks tinged a light red in embarrassment. Tsuna looked back and forth between the two of them, trying to understand what they were talking about. "Simple, you said? Yesterday, you three-"

"It was an accident." Noel cut him off, though he looked away afterwards, sheepish. "…Sort of. We wanted to find out its melting point."

"And you guys ended up causing an explosion, kora." The blond replied bluntly, staring at his brother. "Jinx-nee was _so_ mad about the bill. Then there's C.C.S. too, kora."

"C.C.S ended up well, you have to admit." The dark-haired teen countered, to which Alex sighed and nodded. "And Jinx-nee…well, she was mad, but we paid the debt off. Besides, it's not like we're the only ones destroying the house."

The blond winced at that, nodding again. "True that…" Alex turned to Tsuna, who was looking at them with confusion. "Are you _sure _you want to do this, Tsuna, kora? You'll only be having two of the trio, but bastard here and Strawberry can do some property damage and then there's their current project…"

"Please, Alex, you do your fair share of property damage too. Besides, we won't do anything drastic." Noel said, rolling his eyes, just as Tsuna was about to reply. "I'm just going to pick Leo up, tutor Tsuna and go home. Easy and simple. Maybe we'll run some tests on our way home, but those would be harmless."

"I guess…" Alex reluctantly agreed, letting out a sigh and picking up his bag. He started to walk towards the door, but before he left, the blond called out to his brother. "Don't forget to make him sign the contract! We're barely making it as it is…"

Noel nodded, and when his brother was out of the door, the dark-haired teen flipped open the flap of his bag and took out a piece of paper. He gave it to Tsuna, who was _still _looking confused. "Sign this before we go."

His eyebrows rising to his hairlines, Tsuna took the papers and asked tentatively. "…And this is?"

"Like the idiot said, a contract." Noel explained. "This way, neither I nor anyone from my family will be responsible for any property damage that occurs in your house."

"…What kind of property damage are we talking about here?" The brunet asked, slightly nervous. His mind went back to the list of insurances he has regarding property damages for his house, as his friends and Family could and would sometimes destroy parts of it.

_I have insurance for dynamites, swords, poison cooking that melts walls, bazookas, crazy assassins…_

"Right now? All you have to worry about are the robots."

…_I'm glad I have that one covered after Shouichi, Spanner and Gianini first arrived._

"It's alright." Tsuna said, as he signed the paper quickly and gave it back to Noel, who looked at him with disbelief. The brunet smiled at him. "What could go wrong?"

Famous last words.

-(X)-

The dark-haired teen led Tsuna away from school, towards the poorer areas. The brunet rarely, if ever, went there, so as the clean and tidy roads gave way to narrow and cluttered alleys, Tsuna blinked and took in the sight. There were barely any shops around, and if there were, those would be boarded up and locked. Clothing lines hung precariously between buildings and the apartments surrounding them were old with worn paint. Once or twice, Tsuna caught glimpses of people looking at them, but they were gone before he could get a good look.

Tsuna swallowed nervously, walking a little closer to Noel. He had a bad feeling about this place.

_Noel and Alex lives here?_

"No, we don't." Noel suddenly spoke up, eliciting a startled _"Hiiieee!"_ from the brunet. Tsuna saw that the other teen looked amused, possibly at his reaction. The brunet pouted, annoyed, at that. "We live farther away, near the outskirts of the city. It's more peaceful and quiet there, not to mention, the neighbours are more friendly-if there are any, that is."

"I see…" Tsuna said, as they continued to walk further away from the city that he knew. However, he couldn't help but think.

_Stop reading my mind!_

"Can't help it." Noel said teasingly with an unrepentant smirk. "You're just too easy to read, Dame-Tsuna."

"I-I'm _not!_"

The dark-haired teen just laughed at his indignant reply. Tsuna glared lightly at the other teen, annoyed that neither his reply nor glare seems to stop the other's teasing, even though his heart ached with nostalgia. It was almost like Reborn. The hitman liked to do that, freaking him out by reading his mind. Glancing at the new student from the corners of his eyes, Tsuna wondered and hoped that Noel didn't read this one thought.

_How can someone who's __**not **__Reborn acts a __**lot **__like him?_

Sure, Tsuna has accepted that Noel wasn't Reborn, but _it still didn't make sense._

After all, there were only enough coincidences you could accept before you notice a pattern forming.

So it was back to the basic question, the same one that had been running through his mind since he first saw Noel and Alex.

_Who are you?_

Sighing, the brunet put that thought aside for later, focusing on his Hyper Intuition instead. He could let that mystery remain for a while longer. Trouble was coming up, Tsuna could practically _feel _it.

And by the looks of it, Noel seemed to realize it too.

"I'm sorry." The teen beside him murmured, his voice low enough so his words could only be heard by him as he gave Tsuna an apologetic smile that made the brunet confused. "I'm a big magnet for trouble. I don't _make _them…usually…but it just _happens_."

"It's alright." Tsuna reassured the teen. Out of the corners of his eyes, he could see people-teens like them- appearing from the shadowed alleys. Tsuna cursed inwardly, though he maintained the pretense of ignorance alongside Noel, as he saw them having various weapons with them. "I have my own fair share of trouble. This isn't anything I can't deal with."

_After fighting a tyrant with a major God complex in the future and zombies Arcobaleno, a few regular teens with switchblades are nothing._

Noel smiled gratefully at him, unaware of Tsuna's previous 'troubles'. "Thank you, Tsuna."

The two continued to walk through the slums, quiet this time. Tsuna could sense, with his Hyper Intuition, that the teens in the shadows were moving, coming closer and closer to them. The brunet glanced at Noel, seeing the other teen slipped a hand under the flap of his bag almost casually, black eyes flickering left and right in cautiousness.

Tsuna nodded, almost imperceptibly so, at that. The other teen was ready for a fight. Good.

A part of the brunet wondered how Noel would fight. Would he fight like Reborn, with guns? Or would he do it in an entirely different way?

Tsuna was curious, perhaps too much so.

Luckily, or unluckily, he didn't have to wait long for his answer. Suddenly, Noel ran and turned into a corner. Tsuna followed him, even though the way led to a dead end. The dark-haired teen didn't look upset by this, instead he turned to the opening with a determined look on his face. Tsuna realized what Noel wanted to do. He didn't want to run, never intended to, in fact. Noel wanted to fight and deal with his trouble right now.

It reminded Tsuna of Reborn.

_He always did say to face your problems head on._

The teens started to appear, rowdy and clearly smug, unaware that they could be effectively heading to a trap. Sure, when you're in an alley with a dead end, you couldn't run away. But Tsuna knew, through multiple fighting experiences, that just because you have your prey cornered doesn't mean that you won. Sometimes, the prey fought back. After all, in an alley, while you couldn't run, the opponents couldn't overwhelm you with their numbers either and you could pick them off one by one.

A teen with shaggy brown hair and scarred arms, presumably the leader, walked towards them and away from the group, looking smug. He probably believed that he got them cornered. "You guys are trespassing on our territory. Luckily, we're a kind bunch, so just hand over all your money and you can go free."

"And I should believe someone with a knife pointed to me and a dozen lackeys behind him?" Noel replied sarcastically, watching them warily. "Right. Good luck with that."

The other barked out a harsh laugh at the dark-haired teen's snark. "You _should _believe in my words, as it's the only one that could get you two out of here unharmed."

"Somehow, I doubt that." Noel muttered dryly, a smirk forming at his lips. Then, he suddenly drew his hand out of his bag and threw _something _to the ground.

Smoke instantly covered Tsuna's vision, and their wannabe assailants' too. The brunet didn't move as he covered his mouth and nose with a hand,but he could feel that Noel did. He could hear the slight crackle of electricity, the confused chatters of the gang and the 'thump' of bodies to the ground. He wondered, as the wind blew and dispersed the smokescreen, what he would see as he opened amber eyes.

Tsuna blinked at the sight in front of him, surprised but not _really_. Noel looked and acted like Reborn-_mostly_, that is. So seeing the dark-haired teen standing with a taser in hand and several unconscious bodies surrounding him, wasn't exactly surprising for the brunet. He absently wondered why Noel had such a hard time with the bullies on the first day he met him. Seeing this, Tsuna could say that Noel wasn't helpless.

Seeing their leader had fallen threw the remaining teens into rage. They glared at Noel and charged at him, raising their various weapons. Noel merely smirked in response, charging his taser, but there was a hint of fear and uncertainty in his eyes. As if he wasn't exactly sure that he would make it out of this unscathed. He didn't need to worry, however, as Tsuna decided that it was his turn to act and charged ahead of him, eyes flashing a burning gold.

A teen tried to strike him with a steel bat, but Tsuna caught it and threw him away, knocking him unconscious as the teen hit a wall. Another one lunged at him with a knife, but the brunet simply sidestepped, neatly dodging the attack, and grabbed the outstretched arm. The attacker's eyes widened as Tsuna spun around and slammed him roughly at two others, smacking both of them to the wall and knocking them unconscious.

Noel didn't stand idly as Tsuna fought several of them at once. The dark-haired teen ducked as one swung a bat at him, stepping close to the other and tasing him into unconsciousness. Someone tried to punch him from behind, but Noel moved away, taking another item from his bag, and shoved it roughly to the other's mouth. He smirked as the attacker's eyes widened and roll to the back of his head as he fainted and dropped to Noel's feet.

Tsuna, who saw it, asked him between punching a guy on the solar plexus and dodging another attack. "What was that!?"

"Feng-nii's dumplings!" Noel shouted back over the din of the fight, dodging and tasing another assailant.

Between the two of them, they made quick work of the gang. Soon, none of their attackers were conscious, knocked either due to Tsuna's attacks or Noel's taser. The two Namimori Middle students quickly moved away from the scene of the fight, wary of more gangsters. Luckily, no one attacked them and Noel tucked his taser back inside his bag after replacing the batteries.

As Noel led the farther away from the alleys, Tsuna asked, bemused. "Dumplings?"

Noel's black eyes flicked towards him, lips turning to an amused grin. "Yes, Feng-nii's dumplings. It's powerful enough to knock people out due to some weird thing he added into it. Skye can eat it, as she likes any kind of pastries, and Vaan can too as he has an iron stomach, but the rest of us can't. _Especially, _after _that, _none of us can stomach _seeing one _and Alex will _faint _if he sees a dumpling."

"What's _that?" _Tsuna asked, curious. "And why would Alex faint at the sight of one?"

"A year after we escaped the orphanage, Feng-nii got the idea that we should learn how to properly defend ourselves." Noel explained, lips quirking up and eyes twinkling in the way of when one would tell an amusing story. Tsuna walked closer to him, curious. "He wasn't exactly _wrong_. It was right after some gang tried to attack me-I told you that I attract trouble, right?-and I barely made it out of that alright. Feng-nii is _kind of _protective about us and seeing me beaten up made him do two certain things. First, he beat up the gang that attacked me. Second, he got the idea to train us to fight."

Since Noel looked like Reborn, it was hard for Tsuna to picture him as a helpless, beaten up kid. Especially after Noel proved that he could hold his own in a fight. Still, the brunet guessed that everyone was young and helpless once.

"It wasn't a _bad _idea." Noel continued. "Feng-nii's a self-taught martial artist. He made his own style and tried to teach it to us…with varying success. Jinx-nee and Strawberry could barely do it. Skye did better, but she couldn't keep up. Vaan managed to pass, but barely, and Alex was average at best. I was Feng-nii's best student and I don't really join him to train that much."

"Then one day, _that_ happened." The dark-haired teen said, shuddering slightly as they continued to walk. Their surroundings slowly changed, from the shadowed and cluttered alleys of the slums to the rough roads and wide open spaces of the outskirts of the city. "Feng-nii decided that it was about time we practice dodging. So he used his dumplings –which can _melt through trees and rocks-_ and _threw _them at us!"

Tsuna couldn't help but laugh at that. He clutched his stomach, doubling over in laughter. Funny, it was similar to his spartan training with Reborn. There was something ironic in the fact that _Noel _used to do that. Running away for dear life, dodging his tutor's bullet, all the hellish training…Tsuna chuckled, though his heart was saddened. Those were hellish, torturous days…but they were also _fun_ and he treasured every moment of it. Sometimes, when he felt wistful, he wished he could go back in time to those simple days.

_As if that can happen._

No matter how much he wished, Tsuna knew that no one could turn back time

So he moved on, albeit grudgingly and reluctantly.

But now he's here, and it _almost _felt like he was back to those torturous, fun days with Reborn. He would have blamed it on Noel for bringing him this bout of nostalgia, but Tsuna knew that he never meant to cause such things. Noel didn't even know Tsuna before he met him.

It was like going full circle, but they were only halfway there.

"We're here." Noel announced as they stopped in front of a small, one story house. It looked as if it was constructed recently, with the wooden beams still gleaming with fresh white paint. The roof was a bright blue and the mailbox in front read _'Iris'_. Tsuna raised an eyebrow at that, but kept quiet as Noel knocked the door.

The door swung open and a girl, around a year older than them, stood in front of Noel. The brunet's eyebrows rose to his hairlines, eyes widening slightly in surprise. The girl looked like Mammon, but in a teenage form with long, indigo hair. What surprised Tsuna, however, was that she didn't wear any hoods, letting her hair fall to her back, and had clipped her bangs to the side with a red barrette, letting her ruby-red eyes be seen.

Tsuna remembered Mammon, how the illusionist always wore a hood and hid his or her eyes. Even now, after the Mist Arcobaleno had died, none of them knew what the illusionist true gender was, what with all the androgynous thing the illusionist did.

But the girl in front of him clearly didn't do any of that, wearing a simple dark-blue blouse and black skirt with equally black leggings.

_More similarities, but also more differences._

It was enough to make Tsuna's head spin in confusion.

_Why can't you guys be __**simple**__ for once? Stop throwing mysteries at me!_

"Jinx-nee." Noel said, unaware of Tsuna's inner protests against the unfairness of his life, introducing the brunet to his older sister. "This is my new student, Tsuna. Tsuna, this is my older sister, Jinx-nee."

"Velia Jinx. Call me Jinx." She said, not coldly…yet not warmly or exactly polite either. Indifferent, Tsuna realized.

Tsuna managed to give a warm smile regardless of his confusion and her tone. "I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, Noel's classmate and student. Please call me Tsuna. It's nice to meet you, Jinx-san."

He outstretched a hand, meaning to finish the introductions with a handshake. Instead, Jinx looked at his hand, eyes widening for some reason as she saw his palm. She took his hand and traced his palm with a finger, head bowed so he couldn't see her expression. Tsuna was distinctly reminded of old women who claimed that they could divine one's fortune by looking at one's palm.

Tsuna didn't believe in their claims, but as Jinx murmured something intelligible, he couldn't help but thought that maybe she could do it.

"Interesting…" Jinx said at last, pulling back and releasing his hand. She looked at the brunet with a speculative look on her face. "_Very _interesting…"

"What is?" Noel asked curiously.

Her red eyes flicked from him, to her brother, and back, before she shook her head. "…No, it's nothing to be concerned of."

"Jinx-nee?"

"It's nice to meet you, Tsuna." Jinx said, ignoring the questioning look sent by Noel. She looked at the brunet carefully, with eyes that seemed to know _something_, before she stepped back and opened the door wide, letting them in.

"Welcome to the Iris family's home."

-(X)-

The inside of the house wasn't much. The floor was matted by a large, brown carpet that kept the feet warm on cold days. There were no doors leading to other rooms, as there weren't any, except for one that led outside and one to the bathroom. The kitchen was directly connected to the main room. The only thing differentiating it from the main room was the checkered tiles, white counters and yellow walls. Sunlight streamed inside from opened, rectangular windows from the sides of the house, the dark-blue curtains held back by its sides.

Pictures of Noel and his family were hung and framed across the walls, alongside pictures and drawings ranging from sketches to paintings of great quality. There was a TV and a game set on one side, facing a large, if old, couch, and a large closet stood on one side of the room. In the center of the room was a circle of seven mattresses-almost like sleeping bags- and its respective blankets and pillows. Each bed set, for lack of better word, was one of the colours of the rainbow. Tsuna could guess who slept where, since they were quite similar to the Arcobaleno.

A corner of the main/bed room was filled with machines that Tsuna couldn't recognize, much less understand. Noel walked to that corner, where a green-haired boy, probably a few years younger than them and looked like an adolescent Verde, tinkered with something or another.

Tsuna looked at one of the pictures, his eyes widening as he saw it. A girl that looked like Uni, but much younger stood, surrounded on both sides by children versions of Verde and Skull, though the later wore no makeup and studs. Noel stood behind the child-Skull, leaning against him, but not in a superior manner. More like an older brother teasing his younger brother. Alex stood behind child-Verde, making a 'V' with his fingers at the camera. Jinx and a boy that looked like Fon stood behind Uni's look-alike. They were all smiling and grinning widely, the picture of a happy family.

On the background, a rainbow formed behind them. A part of Tsuna that wasn't surprised noted the irony.

But mostly, the brunet was shocked and surprised. Not at the picture itself, but at what they wore around their necks like necklaces.

They wore _familiar, __**clear pacifiers.**_

_What the hell is going on!?_

"Do you like them?" A soft, feminine voice inquired, snapping Tsuna out of his stupor.

"Uh-umm-what?" Tsuna stuttered, confused. His mind was too filled with questions to really hear her.

"The photos. Do you like them?" Jinx explained. "I took most of them. It's a hobby of mine."

The brunet blinked. "You like photography?"

"It's a good way to capture a moment." She said. "You can't repeat the past, so all we have are pictures to remind us of it. I like it because it's like storing memories in physical forms so we can't forget them."

"I see…"Tsuna nodded. "These are very good. And the drawings here, did you make them?"

Jinx shook her head, pointing to the child-Skull in the picture. "No, Vaan made them. He's a great artist."

That wasn't what Tsuna was expecting. He remembered Skull and he never thought that the Cloud Arcobaleno would be capable of such detailed drawings. But then again, she was talking about _Vaan _not _Skull _and Tsuna already knew that there were differences between the Arcobaleno and the Iris family.

"Why do you call yourselves the Iris family?" He asked, curious.

"We all have different last names, but we're a family. So Skye decided that we should have at least a shared family name." The older teen replied, looking faintly amused at a memory. "We argued a lot about what we're going to call ourselves. You wouldn't _believe_ the ridiculous names we made up. Then Skye checked the internet and read about Iris, the Greek personification of the rainbow, and decided that would be our family name."

"Iris was the Greek personification of the rainbow." She continued at Tsuna's inquiring look. Jinx looked at the picture, smiling slightly. "When we first met, we all argued and fought against each other, with the exception of Skye since she was still too young then. But then, a rainbow appeared and we stopped fighting…eventually we made up and began to stick together since then."

"Or as Skye reasoned." A voice suddenly spoke up, and Tsuna turned to see Noel walking towards them, Verde's look-alike trailing behind him. "Rainbows are bridges and bridges connect people. It was a rainbow that caused us to stop fighting then, and we all learned to somehow live with each other since then. It was a rainbow that started all of this, a rainbow that connected us, so we might as well named ourselves after the personification of the rainbow."

"I see." Tsuna replied, nodding and noting the irony that the family that looked like the _Arcobaleno_ would have a family name connected to _rainbows_.

Really, it was ironic…or was it serendipity now?

"Micheangelo Leonardo." The green-haired boy introduced himself, looking at Tsuna with intelligent, curious eyes. "But call me Leo."

"You can call him Strawberry." Noel said, ruffling Leo's hair, despite his protests, fondly. "Everyone calls him that."

"It's nice to meet you, Leo-kun." Tsuna smiled at the boy, extending a hand. "I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, but call me Tsuna."

Leo shook his hand, peering at him through thick-rimmed glasses. "Are you _really _allowing me to come with you and Noel-nii to your place?"

Jinx snapped her head at him, red eyes piercing into his brown ones. "You _have _signed the contract, right? I don't want us to be charge with property damages. We already need to deal with the repair bills for our own house, we don't need to add _another _one."

"Don't worry, I have insurance." Tsuna smiled reassuringly at them, though he was beginning to doubt himself.

"For robots?" Leo questioned, to which Tsuna nodded.

Noel blinked. "Why would you have insurance for _robots _in the first place?"

"I have a few friends who like to make them." The brunet explained vaguely. "They're out of the country right now, but when they come they would inevitably destroy parts of the house because of a malfunction or something."

"I see." Noel nodded, his eyes gleaming with interest. Leo was interested too, Tsuna could see. "Can we meet them someday?"

"Sure." Tsuna replied, knowing that they wouldn't mind someone who was interested and could probably understand all their science talk.

Jinx, who was quiet for awhile, smiled, amused at Noel and Leo, and spoke up. "Alright, you two geeks, question him later. Noel, you need to do your job and I need to go to mine. Leo, stay out of trouble and _try _not to make something explode…or _modify_ any kitchenware."

"With Noel-nii around?" The green-haired boy raised an eyebrow. "I can't make promises on any of them."

Jinx sighed, as if used to this. "I know, but at least _try_."

"I guess I can promise that…" Leo muttered.

"That's the best I can hope for…" Jinx sighed.

Noel chuckled lightly at that, walking closer to the door. "Well, we'll be going now, Jinx-nee."

"Take care." She said back. Tsuna glanced at the picture again, before he moved to leave.

However, Jinx grabbed his arm before he could go and he stopped in place. "Tsuna…please take care of them."

"Jinx-san?" He asked, turning to face her. The older girl looked at him, pleading but stern and determined. Tsuna blinked.

"Take care of them." She repeated herself. "I don't know who you are, but you're important. You're going to play an important part in our lives."

At his questioning look, Jinx sighed and explained. "I'm a psychic. A real one, not a hoax. Palm reading isn't specific, it can only tell you the broad future of people, but it's enough for me to see that your fate is entwined with ours somehow."

"…What else did you see?" Tsuna asked, his throat strangely dry.

"…You're going to take a position you originally didn't want, though you have changed your mind about it now." Jinx murmured as she took his hand again and looked at his palm. "You have handle fire often, as your hand is warmer than normal. You're like Skye…you have a heart big enough to accept anyone and you're what binds your friends and family together."

She let go of his hand and he let it fall limply to his side, shocked. The psychic continued, her red eyes piercing into his brown ones in such a way that he _would _remember her next words.

"I can see that whatever you do will affect us. You fate is entwined with us, though you're more connected with Noel for some reason. You're powerful, though you don't look like it, and have a strong determination to protect others." The girl who looked like the Mist Arcobaleno said, her expression serious. "So I'm asking you this. Something big is going to happen, and it'll involve us and you. So _please _take care of them. They're my family; they're the only ones who _accept _me. _Please promise me_."

Her tone turned pleading at the end, almost close to _begging_. Tsuna swallowed, his heart beating fast. His hands were sweaty from trepidation and worry and _fear_. Fear that he couldn't uphold the promise Jinx was nearly begging him to make, to keep. The silence stretched for a moment more, neither breaking their stare on each other.

Finally, Tsuna nodded.

The tense atmosphere between them disappeared almost instantly. Jinx smiled, a small one, but _sincere_. Tsuna blinked at the sight, surprised. He knew that the Arcobaleno rarely, if ever smiled so sincerely, so _innocently_, having been involved in the mafia for too long. So it was quite a surprise to see Jinx, who looked too much like the Mist Arcobaleno, smiling so sincerely.

"Thank you." She said, smiling softly, relieved. "They mean the world for me. So this… thanks, Tsuna."

Tsuna just nodded dumbly, mind too filled with confusion and worries to really hear her. She was…different, much different than what he thought.

_Then again, get to know them and they act more warmly and open than the Arcobaleno._

_At first glance, they behave like them, but if you warm up on them, they act…_

_They act more __**human**__ than the Arcobaleno._

That shouldn't really be a shock for Tsuna, after his previous realization with Noel, but it pounded into him how _different_, how _human_ these people who looked like the I Prescelti Sette were.

They weren't the Strongest Seven, they were simply kids like him.

And that…that made quite a difference.

"I'll protect them." Tsuna said, before he could realize what he said, smiling softly, reassuringly, at the indigo-haired girl in front of him. "I promise you, Jinx-san."

The relief was obvious on her face. "Thanks, Tsuna."

"It's alright." He said modestly. "I should go now, Jinx-san. I'll see you later."

"Alright, Tsuna." She nodded as he walked towards the door. "Goodbye for now then."

Tsuna nodded back, aware that the psychic had most likely foreseen another meeting for them. He wondered on what circumstances they would meet again.

As the brunet walked out, meeting an irritated Noel and an impatient Leo, Tsuna thought back to their conversation. The promise, Iris, pictures…

_Ah! I forgot to ask about the clear pacifiers!_

-(X)-

…What have I wrote?

What have I _wrote?_

This was _supposed _to be a funny chapter where Tsuna will be chased by robots made from kitchenware, but then _this _comes out. I made a _plan _for my story and this _ruined _it (well, not _really_, but it sure messed up the amount of chapters that would be written - _ -). Honestly! If this keeps up, I might not bother to even make a plan. It always ends up longer than I thought it would be.

I thought of making this chapter longer, but I got a feeling that this is enough for now. Ah well…guess my plot will be a slow one to go.

What do you guys think? Was the fight scene too tacky or fast or not descriptive enough? **Please review! **_**I accept any kinds of reviews, even flames and insults and critics!**_

_**MORE REVIEWS = FASTER UPDATES**_

Fun Facts:

- Velia is an Italian name that derived from the Roman family Velius, which means _'concealed' _(reference to the Mist flames). Jinx means a person that brings bad luck or to cast an evil spell on. My headcanon is that Mammon/Viper grew up hated and feared because of her red eyes and abilities, often being called names by others for no reason other than she was different from normal people. It also means to _'tempt fate'_, followed up with bad luck to those who tried to. It's a bit hard to trace back the word, but Wikipedia says it may came from the Latin _iynx_, which is a type of bird occasionally used in _magic _and _divination_. The bird can twist its head almost 180 degrees while _hissing like a snake _(reference to Fantasma). It also traces to the 17th century word _jyng, _which means _'a charm' _or _'a spell'_.

- Iris is the _Greek personification of the rainbow_, _not_ the _goddess _of it (I was surprised when I read this). Look it up on Wikipedia, that's what said there. She is a messenger of the gods and is known as _one of the goddesses of the __**sky **__and __**sea**_ (The Arcobaleno is a part of the Tri-Nii-Sette, which the Vongola {sky} and Mare {sea} Rings were a part of). Iris _links the gods to humanity _(As mentioned over and over, Noel and the others acts more _human_ than their Arcobaleno counterparts). Iris is also a name for a type of flower. Since it has quite a bit of history, irises have come to mean many things, usually _'message', 'a promise of hope', 'valor' _and _'wisdom'_. There's also another meaning attached to this flower that I'll use later.

Granted, Wikipedia may be wrong about Iris, whether she's a personification or goddess of the rainbow *shrugs*. Still, the other parts are quite valid, I looked them up in other sites and they basically said the same thing.

Thank you for reading! I'll see you in the next chapter! ^ _ ^

The Storyteller of Dreams


	9. Camomile

Title: Flowers of Forgetfulness

Summary: It has been a year since the Representative War ended, since Reborn and the Arcobalenos died. Now Tsuna, in the third year of middle school, has accepted his role as Decimo fully. But what are seven supposedly dead people doing in Namimori? Are they truly the Arcobaleno? Or are they simply familiar strangers? An AU of the end of the Curse of the Rainbow Arc. I don't own the pic.

Author: The Storyteller of Dreams

Betareader: AlIa-17

Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

Song: Canvas (Reborn and Tsuna version, yosh! ^ _ ^)

Waah! Sorry for taking so long! I got Semester Exams and when I finished quite a bit of this, I accidentally deleted it, so I needed to start anew ; _ ;

Thank you though, for those who reviewed and supported me! Here's chapter nine for you guys! ^ _ ^ _Finally_, Tsuna's getting chased by robots!

Oya, a reviewer, Soul of The World, had asked some questions. I'll put my answers at the end of the chapter for you guys to know, along with a short character study on one of the KHR girls.

So without further ado, let's start!

-(X)-

Chapter 9: Camomile

_Camomile: Initiative and ingenuity_

-(X)-

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_Fuuta, I-Pin and Lambo weren't on the best terms with the kids at Namimori Elementary._

_This was a fact they tried to hide from their adopted older brother, Tsuna. They didn't want to worry the teen with their own problems, knowing that the brunet has his job as a boss and highschool student to attend to. Besides this was nothing, nothing compared to the pain he must have endured at their age and the burdens he carried now._

_So when I-Pin cried because the girls mocked her work her lack of ears or hairstyle, or when the kids started to harass Fuuta into doing their homeworks and cheating off him and Lambo was often bullied and disliked by the others (granted, he __**was **__annoying, but not __**that **__much that's it justified), they stayed quiet about it. They didn't want Tsuna to worry and fuss over them, because they knew he would and while it was nice and endearing, they need to be able to stand on their own feet._

_If they couldn't handle a bunch of kids, how could they handle the mafia?_

_Besides, none of them wanted to tell Tsuna that he was part of the reason why the kids didn't like them._

_Tsuna's reputation as Dame-Tsuna preceded him and followed them to their school. The kids knew of Dame-Tsuna from their siblings, and often associated them with uselessness and weakness because of it. Even the teachers, unconsciously or not, did this, usually expecting less of them and looked surprised when they surpassed their low expectations._

_Fuuta derived some satisfaction seeing his classmates shocked looks of surprise when he scored an A in the math test almost no one else passed._

_But that led to its own problems. Now that everyone knew that he was smart, he was often the subject of bullying and insults. The reasons ranged from petty jealousy to wanting him to do their homework. Either way, Fuuta tried to deal with it as best as he could, ignoring the insults and dodging the bullies as best as he could. _

_He was grateful for I-Pin and Lambo. Without them, he would probably have quit school by now._

_When Fuuta first entered Namimori Elementary, he ranked who were most likely to be bullies. With that, he could easily identify them and dodge encounters with them whenever he was out of class. However, sometimes, he wasn't lucky or paid attention to his surroundings and they could catch him._

_Like today._

"_Hey, why don't you help us out?" A boy from another class leered at him as he was pushed roughly to the lockers. "We need someone to do our homework."_

_Fuuta grunted, feeling pain shot up from his shoulders. His heart was hammering fast, afraid. "N-no!"_

_This wasn't the first time they did this, but usually, Lambo or I-Pin would be here with him. The Chinese girl could easily knock them out and Lambo would distract them with his sheer annoyingness and grenades. But as luck was to have it, they weren't here and he was forced to fend for himself._

"_No, huh?" The boy laughed, just as the others boys around him did. Fuuta cowered, pushing himself back as much as he could. "Hear that! He said no! I think you forgot something, shrimp, you got no options."_

_Except he __**did**__, it just wasn't a comfortable one. Yet, it was one that he could live with. So Fuuta shook his head again, stating a bit more firmly. "No."_

_You always have an option, after all, even when it seemed you didn't._

_The other boy narrowed his eyes, cracking his knuckles. "Well then, it seemed we have to ask __**nicely**__."_

_The Ranking Prince shut his eyes as they neared him, shaking and trembling. But he wouldn't take back what he said._

_Fuuta knew better than to let someone take advantage of him by threats and force._

_Luckily, he was saved from a beating by an unlikely source. "Hey, what are you guys doing!?"_

_Surprised, the brunet opened one eye to look at the one who spoke as the bullies turned to face the same person. To his surprise and confusion, the one who shouted was a girl, around his age with long dark-blue hair tied back neatly into a ponytail, a tattoo under one eye and a clear pacifier as a necklace. Fuuta recognized her as the new student to his class, Azul Skye. But what was she doing here?_

_A part of him that wasn't terrified of the situation he was in, noted that she looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't remember to who she resembled. And that tattoo…it looked familiar, something he should recognize…_

_His brown eyes widened. That was the Giglio Nero emblem!_

_**That means…she's Uni!?**_

_**But didn't she died a year ago with the other Arcobaleno?**_

_Unaware of the confusion she caused, Skye marched forward to the leader of the group, blue eyes glaring at him and hands at her hips. "Well, what are you doing!?"_

_The boy blinked, before replying with a smile that was less comforting than otherwise. "We're just asking Fuuta here to help us out with our homework. That's all."_

"_Right." The girl shot him a disbelieving look, lips turning to a thin line as she glanced at Fuuta and back to the boy. "Then maybe I can __**ask **__you to leave him alone."_

"_Maybe I can ask __**you **__to go away." The other replied with a slight growl, knowing that they were caught red-handed._

_Skye returned his growl with a glare, looking at the boys surrounding her and Fuuta, before frowning slightly. It seemed that she realized how she was outnumbered. With a frustrated sigh, she said. "Fine."_

_Fuuta felt his heart dropped in disappointment. Which was ridiculous, because what was he expecting? He should have known better, not only was the girl outnumbered, but he wasn't the most liked boy in Namimori Elementary. No, this was something he should have expected. He shouldn't feel disappointed, shouldn't feel sad and upset._

_But he was. She was the first person, besides Lambo and I-Pin, to stand up for him._

_But she didn't follow through, and for that he was disappointed._

_The dark-blue haired girl turned to leave, but suddenly stopped, as if an idea just came to her head. She turned around to face the bullies, this time with a wide, innocent smile on her face._

"_Do you guys want some dumplings?" She asked, and before they could protest, she gave each of them a dumpling from her bag. How all of them fit into her bag with her books and school stuff, Fuuta didn't know. What he did know, however, was that the dumplings smelled distinctly like the ones his adopted little sister made._

_**Did I-Pin give her those?**_

"_Come on, eat them!" Skye said, smiling innocently at their dubious look. "They're my older brother's, Feng-nii's, dumplings. They're really good!"_

_The bullies looked hesitant, glancing at each other before their leader shrugged. It was just a dumpling from some girl. What harm could it possibly do?_

_THUMP!_

_Fuuta looked, feeling a little incredulous as he saw the bullies fell to the ground, unconscious. Then he looked up to the girl, who was still smiling, but there was a hint of mischievousness and victory as she looked at the downed boys._

"_Come on!" She said, smiling in a friendly way at him as she took an arm and dragged him away from the unconscious boys. "Let's get out of here before they wake up."_

_Fuuta nodded, knowing a sound plan when he heard one, and ran after her when she broke into a run._

_When they were far away from the boys, she stopped, panting and laughing a bit, as she looked at him._

"_I saw you in class." She said, extending a hand as he skidded to a stop in front of her. "I'm Azul Skye. Do you want to be friends?"_

_Fuuta blinked, not used to hearing the question in the school. "You want to be my friend?"_

"_Why not?" She shrugged, smiling. "I think you and I can be great friends! So, what do you say?"_

"_Not a lot of people here likes me…" He murmured, looking questioningly at her. "Do you really want to be friends with someone like that?"_

"_Silly." Skye said, rolling her eyes and laughing lightly in return. "Of course I do! So what if they don't like you? I think you're a pretty good kid."_

"_You just met me." He pointed out bluntly._

"_I know." She shrugged, as if that point mattered little to her. "But…look, I just __**know **__stuff. Like Jinx-nee, my older sister, does sometimes. I don't know what that meant, because I know I'm not a psychic like her. But still…" She said, looking faintly frustrated that she couldn't explain properly. "I just __**know**__, ok. You're a good kid and you'll be a great friend. What else do I need but that?"_

"_I…don't know." He admitted, looking slightly bemused. Skye was strange, a bit weird, but…she seemed ok, nice. She saved him from those bullies and knocked them out. So she couldn't be bad. With a sigh, he said. "I'm Fuuta de la Stellla. I guess…we can be friends."_

_Her smile could light up a room. "Really? That's great!"_

_Fuuta yelped, stumbling backwards a bit as Skye suddenly hugged him. No, not hugged, __**glomped **__him. Surprised, the Ranking Prince didn't do anything as she cheerfully and happily stated. "Yay! We're going to be great friends! I just __**know **__it."_

_Only when she released him could Fuuta take a deep breath, blinking at her statement. For some reason, his cheeks tinged itself slightly red. "Umm…that's great…"_

_She simply laughed at his awkwardness. "I know. Do you want to play?"_

"_Umm…sure…" He smiled back, slightly hesitant and shy. But Skye simply beamed at him, and he couldn't help but smile a bit wider, a bit less shy._

_As she dragged him (again) to the playground, Fuuta remembered that tattoo and clear pacifier she had. He couldn't help but ask. _

"_Are you Uni?"_

_Skye turned to looked at him over one shoulder, her blue eyes not once glinting in recognition of the name, and asked back._

"_Who's Uni?"_

-(X)-

School was over, and Fuuta could finally breathe out a sigh of relief.

It's not that he didn't like school. It was a rather interesting experience, as a part of living a normal life that he lacked prior to coming to Namimori and meeting Tsuna. Before he met the future Vongola Decimo, he was constantly chased by various mafia Families for his ranking abilities. Now that he was part of Tsuna's Family and family, there were fewer threats to his life and less kidnapping attempts. After all, everyone knew how foolish it was to go against the greatest mafia Family in the world.

But sometimes, Fuuta wondered about the life he left behind when he started to run away. Were his mother and father still alive?

He hadn't received a letter from them since the day he left. On bad days, he wondered whether they died somewhere due to him. On good days, he thought that they didn't want to be associated with a freak like him and was living somewhere away from him.

But back to the matter at hand, Fuuta didn't hate school; it's just that the people there kept trying to give him a reason to hate it.

Whether it was the students bullying or harassing him, or the teachers unconsciously looking down on him, Fuuta was getting tired of seeing the same expressions over and over again. The only reason he kept going to school was his curiosity of living a normal life and Tsuna, Maman, Lambo and I-Pin supporting him. That and…

"Are you done, Fuuta-kun?"

The brunet turned and smiled at his newfound friend, Skye. "Almost, let me get my stuff."

As he packed his bag, he wondered about the tattooed girl who was leaning against the window, smiling whimsically as she looked at the sky. Skye was strange…weird, not only in her appearance, but also in her personality. She didn't act like the way the Arcobaleno Princess he knew and could remember in the future that never was and would never be, despite looking much like her.

Skye was more forward, as seen when she saved him from the bullies yesterday, and she was fine with tricking someone to save someone else, as shown when she knocked out the boys who troubled him with her older brother's dumplings. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but she seemed to be more cheerful and happy than Uni, who looked more reserved and polite. Then again, in that bad future, there was a tyrant trying to use her to rule the multiple universes.

_Since when is the mafia filled with sci-fi?_

…_Probably when Dying Will Flames were introduced._

But as different as she was from the Sky Arcobaleno, she looked similar to her. She had the Giglio Nero emblem under an eye, though Skye seemed unaware of what the tattoo represented. She even wore a clear pacifier around her neck in the same way Uni used to.

But strangely, Skye didn't know what the tattoo and pacifier meant, nor how and when she got them.

All she knew was that she had them for as long as she could remember, which didn't make sense.

Skye lived at the same time Uni did, or technically before, since the Arcobaleno Princess wasn't 'born' this time around until Aria sacrificed her life to bring her back. So how could Skye have those things, when she lived at the same time or before Uni existed?

Fuuta wished he could talk to Tsuna about this. It was making his head spin, the mystery and paradox of Azul Skye. But his older brother looked distracted yesterday with something and Fuuta didn't know how to exactly word his question either. _Tsuna-nii, I met someone who is like Uni, but not. _

_Right, that confused even __**me**__._

So Fuuta opted to tell Tsuna later, or perhaps it was better to show him. Lambo and I-Pin couldn't help him with this one, because they don't know or remember who Skye looked like. They had only met Uni for a short while in the future and neither did they meet her in the Representative War.

"I'm done." He said, hefting his bag onto his back. Skye turned from the window and smiled cheerfully at him. He returned the smile with one of his own, though for some reason his cheeks turned slightly pink, and walked towards the door, his friend following him closely.

"Are you going to go to the bakery again?" He asked as they headed for the stairs at the end of the corridors.

"Yup!" She replied, optimistic and energetic. "I'm going to _ace _his test if it's the last thing I'll do!"

"That's good." He said, smiling at her enthusiasm.

Yesterday, she told him that her family was kind of poor and everyone has to work to make ends meet. Skye told him that they all got different jobs, and that she wanted to work in a bakery. Someday, she said, she wanted to open one of her own, a bakery that would sell delicious pastries and breads. One that people would flock to from all over the world to taste and enjoy.

So she went to the bakery which Fuuta recognized to be the same one Haru, Kyoko, Hana and Chrome frequently goes to. He followed her with Lambo and I-Pin tagging along because he promised to take care of them for the day. The dark-blue haired girl asked for an apprenticeship and she was given forms to fill out. The head baker didn't seem to believe that she could bake, but after hearing her story, he decided to let her try and prove herself. Fuuta had to admit, Skye was quite a person for trying to find work as a kid to support her family.

She had to come back the next day for her test, but that was fine. As she had nothing better to do and neither did he or his younger siblings, they ended up playing in the park until Maman picked them up. Fuuta wanted to stay behind and wait for Skye's older brother, Noel, to pick her up, but she got a phone call from him who told her to meet up somewhere else. With a reassuring grin, Skye told him to go home and that she would be fine.

Skye hummed a tune beside him, her perpetual smile on her face. As they went down the stairs, she pumped a fist to the air, excited. "I'm going to pass it with my dying will!"

Fuuta froze mid-step, turning quickly to looked at her.

_With my dying will…that phrase…_

It was similar to what Reborn used to say, and what Tsuna eventually turned into his motto. _Dying will_. How did she get that?

"Where did you get that phrase?" He asked, voice slightly shaky. What did all this _mean_?

Skye blinked, not catching his shaky tone, but noticing his confusion. "From Noel-nii. Why?"

"O-oh, it's nothing." Fuuta replied, shaking his head though his mind was spinning once more with thoughts. "It just sounds strange, that's all."

The girl beside him chuckled, unaware of his confusion. "I know, but Noel-nii likes to say it. I don't know how he got it, and he can't remember where he got it either, but he has it since I can remember. It's like a motto or something. Somehow, it got to me too."

"I see…" Fuuta managed to smile a bit at her, nodding, appearing calm.

But inside, the Ranking Prince was anything _but _calm. His thoughts flew, creating a jumbled up mess, one that seemed to revolve around Skye and her family.

_Skye and Uni…Noel-san and, probably, Reborn-san..._

_But what does this mean? They can't be the same people. They can't exist together at the same time._

_Who __**are **__you guys?_

-(X)-

Tsuna's mind was filled with confusion and thoughts as he, Noel and Leo walked towards his house. To add to his inner turmoil, the brunet felt fear and worry. Worry because he didn't know if he could keep his promise with Jinx and fear that he would fail to uphold it. Why had she asked him anyway? What kind of trouble had she foreseen that she would trust a stranger with her family?

Tsuna didn't know. There were too many missing pieces for him to see the whole picture.

He was quiet on their walk to his home, too consumed by his thoughts to participate in any talks. Not that he would be able to anyway. Noel and Leo were talking avidly about science and technology, the subject too advanced for Tsuna to understand. There were only a few terms that he understood, like force, mass and resistance, but they were used in a context that he couldn't decipher. He wondered half-heartedly if they were speaking in another language.

_I'm sure I would n__**ever **__understand science talk._

Shaking his head, trying to clear it from the ache that was forming from thinking too much in the mystery that was the Iris family, Tsuna looked at the two brothers. Noel and Leo seemed to be talking amiably, even a bit enthusiastically about whatever science topic they were going on about. It was a far cry to Reborn and Verde, who never seemed to get along well.

Reborn never trusted the scientist, and Verde didn't really care about human life as long as it would help him in his researches.

But Noel clearly trusted Leo, and in return the younger of the two seemed to look up to him, if that faint admiration he saw was correct.

So it was strange to see them interacting, two people who looked so much like the two Arcobaleno that didn't get along treating each other as brothers and friends.

_They look like them, sometimes they act like them, but…they don't have the same relationship with each other._

_They're friendlier, more open and less secretive, which makes it __**more **__confusing._

_How does people like that seem to have secrets that even __**they **__don't know?_

_This is making me confused!_

"Tsuna…Tsuna…Oi, Dame-Tsuna!" Noel shouted, snapping the brunet from his thoughts. Tsuna smiled sheepishly as Noel looked at him, irritated. "Geez, pay attention when you walk, Dame-Tsuna! We're here!"

"Eh…here?" Tsuna asked, a bit dumbly, before he realized that they were at the front gates of his house. "…Oh."

His new home tutor rolled his eyes. "Yes, _oh_. Now go and be a good host, _Dame-Tsuna_."

Blushing fiercely from embarrassment, Tsuna opened the gate and the front door, ushering them in. Noel huffed, slightly annoyed at Tsuna's prior absentmindedness, and Leo looked faintly amused at the brunet's embarrassment.

As his guests entered the house, Tsuna sighed, and hoped that they wouldn't cause a lot of damages.

-(X)-

Tsuna's trouble, for the day at least, started simply.

"I _can't believe _you managed to get a _zero _in a _ten multiple questions test!"_

Or, not so simply after all.

"Hiee, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Tsuna shrieked, putting his arms in front of his body in defense. It was a reflex after being shot at by Reborn many times when he failed.

Noel didn't shoot him, but the brunet thought that it was only because he didn't have a gun. The look the dark-haired teen gave him was as forbidding as Reborn's, sending shivers down Tsuna's spine in fear. For a moment, the future Vongola Decimo forgot that Noel wasn't Reborn.

_Hieeee, don't kill me, don't kill me!_

"No student of mine will get less than eighty!" The fedora-wearing teen said darkly, bringing a piece of paper marked red with a '0' on top in front of the brunet. "_This _isn't an eighty, and it's not even a real exam yet!"

They were inside Tsuna's room. The brunet cowered in his chair in front of his desk after finishing, and failing, a short test that Noel had given him. Needless to say, Noel wasn't pleased with the results and was now glaring at Tsuna.

"Hiieee, don't shoot me!" Tsuna shrieked in fear, momentarily forgetting that he was facing _Noel _instead of _Reborn _and that he shouldn't have any fear of bullets from the other teen.

"I won't shoot." And suddenly, Noel was smiling the sort of smile that promised pain for Tsuna and amusement for himself. The brunet found himself wishing that the other teen would glare instead. That smile reminded him too much of when Reborn would punish him in an embarrassing way. "Instead, I have a _better _idea."

_I don't like how he said that he got a better idea._

"Strawberry!" The dark-haired teen shouted, opening the door so that his voice would carry downstairs, where his younger brother was tinkering with something. Noel glanced at Tsuna, smirking, as he said. "I found a test subject!"

"W-wait…y-you don't mean…" The brunet glanced around, hoping that someone would magically appear, but to his chagrin, no one did.

"Yes, _you_." Noel smirked, as he leaned against the wall next to the door, looking at Tsuna. "You, Dame-Tsuna, will be our test subject, and will continue to be one as long as you score under eighty."

"W-what exactly does it entails?" Tsuna asked nervously, not liking the gleam in Noel's eyes. The other teen didn't reply, merely smirking at him, sending an ominous feeling down Tsuna's heart.

_I won't like this at all._

"Who's going to be the test subject?" Leo asked, a little too eagerly in Tsuna's opinion, as he entered the room. In his arms was a robotic…Charmander, Plusle and Minun?

"What's with the pokémons?" Tsuna asked against his better judgment.

The 'pokémons' in Leo's arms seemed to be almost real, with a life-size scale and the appropriate colour for each of them. They could almost pass for real creatures, if it wasn't for the glowing eyes.

"We're trying to bring our pokémons in Pokemon Online to this world." The child genius explained, setting them down carefully. "But first, they need a body to be put into."

Tsuna blinked. "What's Pokémon Online?"

He knew Pokémon, of course. Living in Japan where some of the trains were painted with Tepigs and Pikachus and the various effects the franchise had on the country it was made in makes it impossible not to know. But, Tsuna didn't know anything called Pokémon Online. He knew Pokémon Black and White and it's sequels, having played it, and he knew of the games before it, including the spin-off games, but he hasn't heard of Pokémon Online.

His question caused both Iris members to gape at him, clearly shocked. Tsuna shifted uncomfortably in his seat, their looks making him feel awkward.

"You don't know Pokémon Online?" Noel asked after a moment of awkward silence, staring at him as if he was either crazy or an idiot. Tsuna felt that he was the latter.

"Umm…yes…?" Tsuna replied, smiling sheepishly. "What is it?"

"What _is it?" _Leo said, looking incredulously at the brunet. "It's the most famous and greatest MMORPG ever! How can you _not _know it!?"

The brunet blinked at that, laughing awkwardly. "Ah…I don't really play MMORPGs…"

That was an understatement. He never played any MMORPGs ever since grade 4. At that time, he had realized painfully that his 'no-good' self would carry over to any MMORPG he played on and that he would quickly gain a reputation for being 'dame' again. It was enough that people called him 'Dame-Tsuna' in real life, he didn't need people to call him no-good in the virtual world either.

"That's it." Noel suddenly decided, looking determined. Tsuna didn't have a good feeling about that. "We're going to teach you about Pokémon Online one day, after you get your grades up."

"Eh…you really didn't have to…" Tsuna said, trying to persuade the other teen. But Noel looked dead set on what he had said and from the looks of it, nothing he would say would change his mind. So sighing, Tsuna gave up and resigned himself to playing an MMORPG sometime soon. Instead, he asked. "What's with the Charmander, Plusle and Minun?"

"Oh." Noel blinked at the question, before smiling as he picked up the Charmander and held it carefully in his arms. "It's my starter pokémon in PO. I named him Hoshi."

"And the Plusle and Minun." Leo said, petting the two pokémons. "Are mine. I named them Tomato and Blueberry."

"Tomato?" Despite everything else, it was the first question Tsuna asked. It was the only question, in the brunet's mind, that seemed safe enough to be said without sounding incredulous.

Leo rolled his eyes. "It's also a fruit. Science had proved it!"

"So…" The brunet started, deciding to ignore other confusing things, and asked. "What do you need me for?"

Noel's smile was purely Reborn's, so much so, that Tsuna wondered if he was the hitman, despite how impossible it should be.

"Oh…we just need someone to _test _their speed and attack commands."

-(X)-

"Umm…what am I supposed to do?" Tsuna asked nervously as he stood in front of his home. Leo carefully set the robotic pokémons down as Noel leaned against a wall and took a timer from his bag.

"It's easy." Noel said, smirking, which made Tsuna _more _apprehensive. "You just have to run."

"…And when do I have to run?" Tsuna asked, feeling that there were more things the dark-haired teen purposely left out for his own amusement.

"You'll know when you hear it." The other teen said vaguely, which didn't answered Tsuna's question nor relieve his anxiety at all.

_This is going to be bad. This is going to be __**bad. **__I just __**know **__it._

"Are we ready, Strawberry?" Noel asked his younger brother, who nodded. The dark-haired teen smirked. "Alright then, let's start!"

"Thundershock!"

"Flamethrower!"

_What!?_

Tsuna would have asked them, but he quickly knew what they meant by those words as the robotic pokémons came to life. The Charmander spewed fire from its maw and the Plusle and Minun shot out electricity at him. With a cry of _'Hiee!' _Tsuna ran away for dear life, the three pokémons following closely behind him.

Left alone at the front gates of the Sawada household, Noel smirked as he looked at his timer. After checking that it was on, he glanced at his little brother. "Nice job, Strawberry, they seemed to work perfectly."

"The attack commands and their speed seemed to be in order." The child that looked like Verde replied, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "But we haven't found out if the defense works yet, or how long the battery should last."

"We'll figure it out later." Noel replied, sounding uncharacteristically cheerful if he _was _Reborn, grinning widely. "After all, now we have Tsuna as our test subject."

His little brother nodded at that. That was true. Now they have _two _test subjects, including Alex.

Meanwhile, Tsuna ran for dear life as he was chased by robotic pokémons that seemed intent to either burn or shock him. This was _worse _than being chased by Chihuahuas! Noel really _was _as crazy as Reborn!

However, a part of Tsuna, that wasn't so focused on running away, couldn't help but notice, as he dodged a Thundershock from a Plusle named Tomato.

…_This is kind of like those days with Reborn._

.

.

.

-(X)-

And here's chapter 9! I don't really like the ending though… - _ -

Ahh! Skye, why must you be so confusing to write!? I based all of the Iris family with what I think the Arcobaleno would be if they grow up together and lived in a relatively normal and happy environment. That's why some of them shared some similar traits to their Arcobaleno counterparts, yet also remained different from them. Like Noel loves cosplay, but to an extent that Reborn won't go into.

Now, Skye is based on Uni, but the problem is, Uni seemed to lack any distinguishing traits in the manga.

No offense to those who liked Uni, but I just felt that she was…bland, one-sided and a bit broken, you know. We know that she has a martyr thing going on, that she was innocent and smiled a lot. But…it felt that it was all a front, something that was created because of the circumstances around her. What I meant is that she doesn't have many traits I could adapt to Skye's life.

Here's my character study and comparison of Uni and Skye:

I think that the martyr thing was due to her loss of family at a young age and lack of contact with people. Think about it, losing your parents at such a young age is bound to be life-changing. Then, when she was introduced, we were told that she was kept secret and away by Aria. How many kids could she play with if she was kept away? Her contact would be limited to her mother and those who Aria allowed to see her, and they were all adults. Not exactly the best way to grow up, as kids need to be around others their age to grow up healthy.

She's just…for me, doesn't really _seem_ happy, not as always as the manga shows anyway. Uni was made into a boss of a mafia Family at a young age, right around the time her mother died, then got brainwashed three months after that. Isn't that _a lot _for a kid like her? It's just…like, she hides herself behind the figure of a lovable child-boss, so I can't really see the _real _her.

It's kinda sad that when she was going to die in the Future arc with Gamma, smiling and crying, _that's _when I can see the _real _her.

She got better after that, but I still can't find many traits I can adapt into Skye. Not that I'm too surprised, as circumstances shapes us into who and what we are, but as I can't find many traits to adapt, I made some of my own based on what I think Uni would be like if she grew up with kids around her age in a relatively happy and safe environment.

Skye grew up with the Iris family. Granted, they weren't always the best siblings, but they were the only ones she knew and they tried to be the best for her. She grew up happy and free with them, because unlike Uni, she doesn't have to worry about mafia Families, etiquettes, rules and restrictions. That leads to Skye's more forward and energetic personality.

Her father and mother figures weren't always the best, since they were also kids like her (it's Feng and Jinx, because they're the oldest), but they loved her and were always there for her and same goes for the rest of her siblings. I don't think Aria can always be there for Uni, since she was also the boss of the Giglio Nero and that takes a lot of time away from her and I always thought that Uni's dad died before she was born.

Since she grew up with the Iris family, it was inevitable for some of her siblings' traits to rub off on her, like Noel's phrase and Alex cheerfulness.

It's something I learned in Sociology, nurture (human environment) is much important than nature (genetics, DNA, etc). So the way one behaves reflects the way they were raised and the environment they grew up in.

In this case, Skye grew up poor, but constantly surrounded by people who loved her and she loved them back. She grew up without all the restrictions and danger Uni had, without all the pressures of a mafia boss. Meanwhile, Uni grew up in a rich Family, but she was hidden away and kept secret until her mother, who undoubtedly loved her but couldn't always be with her, died and she was forced to become a mafia boss.

(Then Uni had to deal with losing her _heart _to a _multi-universal tyrant_. Yeah, they grew up in _different _circumstances alright.)

Considering all that, I think I'm forgiven for making Skye so different compared to Uni.

If not, then I claim Alternate Character Interpretation! You guys can't accuse me of OOCness then! (Lol)

**Questions from Soul of the World:**

**1. Why is Hibari not in the past chapters? He is the disciplinarian...but he wouldn't just leave Namimori especially Noel if he sees him.**

Don't worry, Hibari will show up soon, hopefully in the next chapter (but I wouldn't count on it, due to my inability to keep my writings short). He's still in Namimori, but he's in highschool now. I put Namimori High as a separate school from Namimori Middle, so Hibari wouldn't see Noel. Besides, he has other, more important, things on his mind right now…

**2. Then the problem of the 5 yr old kids, Lambo, Ipin and not 5 yr old Fuuta. They live in the Sawada house, right? So why didn't they show up?**

As mentioned in this chapter, they were keeping Skye company yesterday, so they didn't show up in the past chapters….and I did _not _make that up on spot…_really_ *whistles innocently*

By the way, Lambo and I-Pin are now 7 and Fuuta is 11 in this fic.

**3. There's also the trouble of those not-Arcobaleno kids in the orphanage. If, by chance, other mafia members would pass by that town or place, they would immediately notice Noel or the others ESPECIALLY Noel. I mean, he looks like the world's no.1 hitman...**

They're not involved in the mafia, if you're wondering. They don't like them after a _certain incident _occurred. Right now, all I can say is that it involved a yakuza group being completely destroyed and Noel's student prior to the story. The Iris family couldn't remember what exactly happened then, but they don't like the mafia due to that.

(And no, none of the _Iris_ killed anybody during _that incident._)

Fun Facts:

- Azul means _'blue'_ in Portuguese and Spanish (reference to the sky, which is usually blue). Though I originally took it from the word '_lapis lazuli'_, which is a rare, semi-precious stone which is prized for its intense shade of blue. _Lapis _is Latin for '_stone_' while _lazuli _is taken from the Persian _lāzaward_, meaning "_heaven_" or "_sky_". Put them together and it'll mean _'stone of heaven' _or _'sky stone'. _Skye, of course, is a no-brainer. Take the letter 'e' away and you'll get _Sky_. I think everyone knows what this refers to.

- Tomato _is _a fruit! Really! It originated in America , then spread through the Spanish colonization of the Americas. I guess the reason why many consider it a vegetable is because it's considered one for culinary purposes.

- MMORPG stands for Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. In an MMORPG, players from all over the world can interact with each other through the Internet. In my fic, I people can play MMORPGs with the Nerve Gear (from Sword Art Online) and enter the virtual world. Which leads to…

- Pokémon Online (shortened to PO sometimes) is, in this world, a made up MMORPG I made. It's also the title of a fic (Pokémon one, naturally) I've been planning to make, but I keep getting drawn to this (hahaha…). In the game, players are _more _than simply Pokémon Trainers. They can take one Class and become a Knight, Archer, Priest, Martial Artist, Mage or Dancer to defeat other pokémons and demons that roamed the world _with _your pokémons. So a player can _fight along _their pokémons too! There are also Jobs that, unlike a Class, the player can switch at will and have multiple, like Trainer (the first Job given), Breeder, Ranger, Coordinators, Star, Hunter and Professor.

I think you guys can guess that I _love _Pokémon, huh? Hmm~ I can tell you though, the Pokémon Online mentioned here _will _be important later on. In what way? You guys have to read to find out! ^ _ ^

Oya, guys can anyone make a drawing of the Iris family in the last chapter? Pretty please? I _really _want to see it!

Thank you for reading this! I'll see you in the next chapter! ^ _ ^

The Storyteller of Dreams

_**MORE REVIEWS = FASTER UPDATES**_


	10. Maidenhair Fern

Title: Flowers of Forgetfulness

Summary: It has been a year since the Representative War ended, since Reborn and the Arcobalenos died. Now Tsuna, in the third year of middle school, has accepted his role as Decimo fully. But what are seven supposedly dead people doing in Namimori? Are they truly the Arcobaleno? Or are they simply familiar strangers? An AU starting at the end of the Curse of the Rainbow Arc. I don't own the pic.

Author: The Storyteller of Dreams

Betareader: AlIa-17 (Though I didn't get her to beta it this time. I wanted to get this out as soon as possible.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

Yay! Over a hundred reviews! Thank you so much for supporting me! ^ _ ^

Now we're going to see what Hibari's up to and Kyoko and the mysterious hacker as the mystery of the Iris family deepens…

-(X)-

Chapter 10: Maidenhair Fern

_Maidenhair Fern: Discretion, Secrecy_

-(X)-

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It was in the middle of the afternoon. Sunlight streamed from the slits of the shutters, tracing dust patterns in the air and creating stripes with shadows. Against one of the window, silhouetted by the light and shadows, Hibari Kyouya leaned and peered down the courtyard of Namimori High School.

School was over for the day, so the students were all either leaving the place or going to their respective clubs. The prefect noted absently that none of them broke Namimori High's rules yet, too wary with the tonfa-wielding Guardian, as they should. Good. However, it wasn't for them that Kyouya took the time from his nap to look out of the window for.

No, it was for a certain new student to Nami High did he do this. His eyes narrowed a fraction as he saw who he was looking for. Down at the courtyard, a Chinese-looking man, his features similar to the prefect's save for the braid (that was against regulations. He would beat him up later for that) and the smile on his face, was talking to an indigo-haired woman with red eyes and two upside-down triangles tattoo on her cheeks. The woman was frowning, while the man just laughed, as if amused by their argument.

They were Quan Feng and Velia Jinx.

They both looked like the Arcobaleno, though Kyouya needed a moment to know that Jinx looked like Mammon. The Varia Mist Guardian was androgynous at best and it was only the tattoos that made him recognized her. However, they did not carry the same aura as the Arcobaleno. They did not have the same inherent dangerous quality nor the inhuman power they had.

They were not carnivores like the Arcobaleno.

And yet, when he saw them yesterday and attacked Quan Feng on the basis of his hairstyle (and not because of who he looked like. _Really._) he could sense the briefest spike of familiar danger from the Chinese man. It was the same danger that he felt from the other Arcobaleno, even the little girl had it though hers was negligible. However, that quick moment was gone and he found himself not facing Fon, but Quan Feng, a new student to Namimori High.

Though Quan Feng was not as powerful an opponent as the Storm Arcobaleno would have been, he was more than capable in throwing his weight in battle. Yes, he lost, but he put up much more of a fight than normal people and came out of it with relatively minor injuries considering that he was facing Vongola's strongest Guardian. Give him a bit of time perhaps, and a little more training…then, well, Kyouya always loved a good fight.

Perhaps he could recruit him into the Disciplinary Committee. Strong people were hard to find and this way he could fight with him anytime he wanted.

But considering people who looked like the Arcobaleno, he had heard from Dokuro Chrome that there were two others in Namimori Middle. Altair Alexander and Corvino Noel were their names, two students who looked like Colonello and Reborn respectively. After the female Mist Guardian began living with the Sasagawas around a year ago, she had become some sort of messenger. Not that Kyouya minded, she was the least annoying of all the other Guardians and she had given him the same files she gave their omnivore boss before leaving quietly.

Dokuro Chrome understood that he preferred solitude and quiet, and for that she was likeable to him.

Reading the files only confirmed what he knew. These new students were not the Arcobaleno, they _couldn't _be them. No one could live two lives at once, especially with the curse in mind and their differences in age. But he already knew that they weren't the Seven Strongest in the first place and didn't bother wondering why they looked so much like the Arcobaleno.

It was too bad though, he was looking forward to another fight with the baby.

The door creaked open and Kyouya looked away from the shutters to look at his second-in-command, his body position giving off an otherwise bored aura to normal people. Tetsukabe, however, knew that his leader was looking at him for reports and wasn't deterred by his silence, having gotten used to it.

"We found another one." The pompadour man said, stepping forward and aside to let the two Disciplinary Committee members behind him in. the two other students entered the room, carrying a corpse covered in white fabric, and lowered the dead person onto a table before opening the cloth to let Kyouya see.

Normal people would have gasped at what they saw, but Kyouya merely looked at the dead person with an air of clinical detachment. The man was old, but not so much, perhaps in his mid-30s. He had some patches of black hair on his scalp which was otherwise covered with burnt marks. His mouth was opened in silent terror, eyes gone white from rolling to his head. There were many scars over his body, his face, his eyes, though they looked like they came from claws. A good chunk of his neck was gone, probably bitten off judging from the mark around it. The corpse was a gruesome thing to behold.

He merely looked at it and asked. "What time was he killed?"

"From the rigor mortis, around 12 in the afternoon." Tetsukabe answered, handing him a file. "They found him around the shrine, near the river."

Kyouya took the file and flipped it open. Inside was a report on the discovery and important information regarding the victim. The prefect noted that the victim was an innocent man, not connected in any way to the mafia. It seemed that he went to the river to fish but was instead found dead among patches of burnt grass and gouges on the earth.

The Cloud Guardian thought about the mafia, but then dismissed it. The man had no relation to the mafia, and if there were any hitmen or assassins around they would be trying to kill Sawada Tsunayoshi, not a civilian and draw attention to them. He was also killed during the day instead of night, the preferred time of day among those that lived in the underworld. There were also the claw marks to consider. He couldn't think of anyone who used claws as weapons.

"Get more information on our killer." He ordered, giving the folder back to his second-in-command. "We have to apprehend him or her before he or she destroys the peace of Namimori." As he went towards the door, he glanced back once at the dead man, a hint of a frown on his face. "And send the body to his family. Make sure that they hold a proper funeral."

With that, he walked out, determined to hunt the killer. The problem of the Arcobaleno look alikes could wait.

Hibari Kyouya would bite anyone who dared disturb the peace of Namimori to death.

-(X)-

There was something wrong, Kyoko could tell.

She frowned, brushing back a strand of brown hair. All the codes and programming on her laptop right now would probably make no sense to regular people, but as a student of one of Vongola's finest hacker, these otherwise gibberish phrases made sense to her. She could see that someone tried to sneak their way into the Vongola's accounts, somehow opening the backdoor to it. However that was one of many layers of defense the Vongola has, and all the hacker managed to do was penetrate into the fourth layer.

As a test, Kyoko managed to get into the sixth layer before she was forced to back out.

The hacking itself wasn't unusual. There were many who tried to hack into the Vongola, regardless of whether they knew of the Family's mafia background or simply saw it as its multinational company front. Most couldn't pass the second layer, though some rare exceptions managed to get into the third or fourth. They were still relatively inconsequential as the Vongola has ten layers of defense. What was unusual however was the _frequency _of the hackings.

Normally, the Vongola would only have around a dozen hacking attempts a month, not counting the times where the Special Intel Division decided to test some of its hackers. None of those outside hackers ever managed to get past the outer layers of defense, so they were deemed unimportant. After all, the Family couldn't waste time and money chasing after failed hackers who usually stopped trying to break into the Vongola after the first couple of times. Each month, it would be a new batch of hackers trying to penetrate the impenetrable.

The same hacker tried to get into the Vongola's account at least a dozen of times.

Such frequency made the Vongola suspicious, though since the hacker still couldn't get past the fourth layer, the Family decided that they should only send a few to investigate it. However, the Vongola didn't become the world's greatest Family by being complacent, they were wary enough to send one of their finest into the investigation and Trace Millers had thought that her student should join in for the experience.

And that was how Kyoko was here, in her room trying to trace back the hacker to his or her location.

She frowned as she looked at her laptop. She was trying to track the IP address of the hacker, but it had bounced to multiple servers at once and each seemed as likely as the next. That meant that they were wasting a lot of time tracing false leads and by the time she would finally get the real IP address, the hacker would have most likely covered their tracks. He or she could have used a public computer or a customized laptop for all they know.

With a sigh, she typed her report on the recent hacking attempt and her subsequent failure to track the hacker. She knew that her teacher wouldn't blame her for her failure though. The hacker was a slippery one, always escaping before they could properly track him or her down, and while Kyoko was one of Vongola's finest hacker's student, she was still relatively inexperienced in things like this.

With her report done, she quickly attached it to an email and sent it to Millers. Her teacher would know what happened and decide what to do next.

When that was done, she frowned thoughtfully. The hacking attempts were strange not only because of its frequency, but also because of how it doesn't seem to try to do anything. It was like a reconnaissance; whoever did it was simply testing waters and didn't seem to have any intent on doing anything yet. That meant more danger than the regular hackers possessed, because that meant that he or she was planning something, something big considering how often the hacking attempts were.

Kyoko groaned lightly, putting her head on her crossed arms that were on top of her table.

This wasn't a good time. They already have their hands full in investigating the Iris family; they couldn't afford some Family attacking them now. Not when Tsuna was so confused and conflicted. She didn't want the brunet to fight when he was so confused like that.

And that's not accounting the Iris yet. They seemed to be civilians, regular people with none of the Arcobaleno abilities regardless of how much they looked like them. Their physical similarities to the group already made them a big target, but if a Family was attempting to attack the Vongola, then they could be caught in the crossfire. They could be casualties or hostages and Kyoko didn't want that to happen.

If the Vongola were to have war with another Family, the Iris would only be a hindrance to them.

And then there were the mysterious killings. Right now, the media managed to contain the news, but as a member of the Special Intel Division, Kyoko could get the truth. The victims were killed in different ways, but they were all murdered viciously. It was utterly gruesome; she remembered seeing a picture of one of the victims. There were even some rumours that the same killings were happening in Namimori where before it only happened in several major cities. Hibari probably have kept that a secret to ensure the peace of Namimori, but if the killings have crept into a town like Namimori then that means that it was no longer restricted to major cities.

The vicious murders were spreading.

Were they all connected somehow? But how could they? They had checked the Iris thoroughly and they have no connections with the mafia save for one incident. That one involved one of the Four Allied Families, the Ryujin Clan, who vouched for their trustworthiness. So the Iris couldn't be connected with the mysterious Family attacking the Vongola. They also didn't have the power to do the amount of damage the victims were found with. But what does all this _mean?_

It meant that none of them were connected. It was just a _sheer coincidence _that all three would happen at the same time.

Kyoko groaned, the universe just _loved _to mess with them.

Suddenly, she heard her door opened and in come her older brother, Ryohei.

She pasted a smile on her face as she turned to face him and casually closed her laptop. She knew that her brother wouldn't be able to understand any of the codes and phrases on her laptop, but he may be suspicious upon seeing it. Though Kyoko doubted that too, her brother trusted her too much to doubt her in any way.

But it wouldn't hurt to stay on the safe side, just in case.

"Hello, nii-san!" She greeted him brightly. She had gotten used to the fact that Ryohei would forever barge into her room unannounced.

"Kyoko, do you mind if I cook today?" His question surprised her and she had to take a moment to really digest it.

Their mother died when Kyoko was young and their father was constantly missing from their lives. He had a business outside of the country and never visited his children, even when it was their birthdays, though he kept sending them enough funds to pay for the rent and everything else. So for most of their lives, they only have each other to rely on, at least it was like that until they joined Tsuna's Family and Chrome moved to live with them. Usually, Kyoko was the one to cook for them, though Ryohei could cook and would do so occasionally.

"Alright, nii-san." She said, smiling. "But why do you want to do it?"

Her ever enthusiastic brother smiled widely. "You seem to be EXTREMELY busy with something, so I'll do it today."

She blinked, her brother had noticed it? What else did he noticed? But that was neither here nor there and she smiled gratefully, sincerely. "Thanks, nii-san."

"EXTREMELY no problem, Kyoko!" He replied, grinning as he moved out of her room. But for a moment as he turned around, she thought she could see a hint of a frown on his face, his eyes glancing at her laptop bemusedly.

Then the moment was gone and Ryohei flashed a smile to her as he closed the door.

When he was gone, Kyoko sighed, suddenly feeling a weight in her heart. She didn't like hiding things from her brother, but a vindictive part of her said that he deserved it. Her brother had lied to her countless of times before, always making her worried by his upcoming fights because she knew that now each one would be a matter of life and death. To be honest, there were some moments that she _hated _her brother.

But those moments would always be overcome with the love she had for him, for their Family.

Because Kyoko understood, knew why the boys lied to the girls and even though she _hated _it, she loved them for trying to protect them.

If only they would realize that they needed help too.

Kyoko turned to face her table, put her head on it and sighed.

-(X)-

Luckily for Tsuna, Noel wasn't as sadistic as Reborn. He only forced Tsuna to run around once before he called off the pokémons.

The brunet panted as he laid on his back in the living room. He wasn't tired, not with Lal's training in mind, but he was still enjoying the few moments of peace before the inevitable storm. Some strands of his brown hair were burnt, either because of Noel's Charmander or Leo's Plusle and Minun, and he has some soot stains on his shirt. Tsuna still couldn't believe that he was chased by _robotic pokémons _of all things.

_The world's going insane!_

It was that or the world already was and he just realized it too late.

Letting out a small breath, the brunet turned his head. On one side of the room, Leo and Noel gathered around the robotic pokémons. He could hear what they were saying, but it all sounded like gibberish to him. He couldn't understand any of their science talk, but he could guess that it had something to do with the robotic pokémons.

As he closed his eyes, he could hear the bell on the front door rang. He sighed, wishing for more time to rest, and was about to get up. But Noel stopped him and Tsuna looked at the raven-haired boy in confusion.

"You should rest." The fedora-wearing teen said and Tsuna had to blink at that. Reborn wouldn't say that. The hitman would have forced Tsuna to get up regardless of fatigue.

But Noel _wasn't _Reborn. He really needed to remember that.

"It's alright." The brunet smiled, though there was a slight sting at the bitter remembrance. Reborn was dead, he would never come back. "I'm not tired."

Noel shrugged and rejoined Leo. "Fine then."

His eyes widened in surprise as he opened the door. The children, Lambo and I-Pin, greeted him cheerfully while Fuuta stood back slightly, a girl around his age with blue eyes and an orange tattoo under one eye beside him. The girl was the reason he was surprised. She looked like Uni, who should be _dead_.

_Not another one!_

"Hello!" The girl that looked like Uni said, smiling widely. "I'm Azul Skye. You must be Fuuta-kun's, Lambo-kun's and I-Pin-chan's older brother. It's nice to meet you!"

"Tsuna-nii," Fuuta started, drawing the attention of his shocked adopted brother. "Skye's here to play. Is that alright?"

It was then that the brunet realized that he was gaping like a fish. Embarrassed, Tsuna nodded, cheeks flaring a slight red. "Of course! Come in, Skye-chan!"

"Thank you, Tsuna-san." She said, smiling the same pure smile like Uni. His heart clenched slightly at that. "Is my brother here too?"

"Umm…who?" He asked, though he got a pretty good idea on who she was talking about.

"Noel-nii. He's your home tutor, right?" She asked, tilting her head to the side slightly. Fuuta looked questioningly at him.

"Yes." The brunet nodded, giving a sign with his eyes to Fuuta that he would explain later. "Leo-kun's here too."

"Leo-nii is here too?" She looked shocked, but also happy. "Did you sign the contract at least?"

"I did." He nodded, smiling reassuringly. "Don't worry, I have insurance."

"For robots?"

"Especially robots, Skye-chan," He confirmed and Skye gave him a bemused look. He just shrugged it off. "Anyway, come in. Make yourself at home."

"Thanks, Tsuna-san!" She said, setting her confusion aside and smiled brightly.

As she and the children entered, Fuuta looked at him questioningly. "You got a tutor? I thought you wouldn't let anyone replace Reborn-san, Tsuna-nii."

"I wouldn't." He agreed, sighing. "But…just get inside. You'll see why."

"Alright…" The younger boy agreed reluctantly, stepping inside.

Tsuna was about to return inside too, but he saw Lal entered the front porch. The ex-COMSUMBIN member looked faintly conflicted. Was it because of her meeting with Alex?

"Lal…are you alright?" Tsuna asked, looking at the ex-CEDEF member worriedly.

"I'm fine." She said, looking faintly annoyed at his worrying it. So the meeting didn't go badly. That's good.

"I saw the kids just came in." Lal said as she entered and Tsuna closed the door behind them. "There was a girl next to Fuuta. Is she who I think she is?"

"She looks like Uni, but she says that her name is Azul Skye." He shook his head. "She's probably like Noel and Alex. They look like the Arcobaleno, but they're not."

Lal frowned. "I see…by the way, have you called the Ninth about this?"

"Why would I call Grandfather?" Tsuna asked as they walked to the living room.

"He may want to know, especially about Noel." She replied. "Reborn was his closest advisor, he helped the Ninth the same way he helped you. Nono probably even know his real name, considering how close they were."

He hadn't thought about it. Tsuna forgot that before him, Reborn was the Ninth's confidante, his best hitman and probably friend. The elderly Vongola boss _would _like to know about the boy that looked like Reborn. Suddenly, he felt a spike of guilt at not telling his figurative grandfather.

"I'll do that soon." The brunet said, before a thought occurred. "Wait, Reborn's real name?"

"You can't think that _Reborn _was his real name." Lal rolled her eyes. "That was just a fake name to hide his real one. It was also a tradition of his Family, they would only reveal their real names to those they trust."

"Reborn never told me about that…" He murmured, feeling hurt. Reborn didn't trust him, even after all he did?

"He probably would after you officially become Decimo." She said. "It was another tradition in his Family and also the Vongola. The best would train the next Vongola boss, though this is only something very few people know. He was the last though, so after he died, there would be no one from his Family to carry on the tradition."

"Wait, how you knew all this!? And Reborn had a Family before the Vongola?" Tsuna asked, confused. Why was he only hearing this _now_? Why didn't Reborn told him any of this?

_Because he died before he could._

Tsuna bit his lip, feeling the familiar sting of regret and guilt welling up as his heart _hurt_.

Lal stopped in the middle of the hallway, looking at him with a critical eye. She frowned slightly, but after a moment she said. "I shouldn't be the one to tell you this…but he's dead, so I guess there's no one else who would tell it."

With a sigh, she said. "Tell me, what do you know of the Four Allied Families?"

Tsuna blinked, not expecting the question. "They're the core alliance of the Family, being made up of the Vongola, Cavallone, Giglio Nero and Ryujin. The Cavallone and Giglio Nero Families became our allies during the First's reign while the Ryujin Clan joined during the Third's time."

She nodded." Good, you actually remember our history."

Tsuna flushed a bit. He remembered the extent of how Lal had forced him to learn the Family's history. It was almost as bad as Reborn's teaching methods.

"However, you're missing one Family." Lal continued. "Before Nono's time, there were actually four Families that allied with the Vongola. However, during Ottavo's time, they were all killed by a rival Family…all save one."

"Reborn…" Tsuna breathed, eyes widening in surprise.

"Yes." She nodded. "That was Reborn's original Family. He was the third and youngest child of the Don Corvino." Her eyes turned sad, wistful. "Back during those days, he wasn't like the Reborn you knew. He didn't even _want _to be a hitman then, have absolutely _zero _intention of following the family's job. His family even supported his dreams of being a scientist -they were a nice bunch too, if you weren't their enemies. Maybe that was why he didn't like Verde."

She sighed, her back against the wall while her eyes were a million miles away. Tsuna couldn't believe what he heard. Reborn never wanted to be a hitman? Then why did he? What happened? What turned him into the dark figure he was now? But one thing caught his attention before all else.

_Don Corvino._

_Corvino Noel._

_**Corvino.**_

That couldn't be a coincidence, could it?

Heedless, of his confusion, Lal continued. "Of course, things didn't go the way he wanted. Things…_happened_. Bad things. On his 14th birthday, a rival Family attacked. They burned down his home, killed his family and did…_things _to him. I didn't even think he was alive until a year later and when I saw him he wasn't the same person he was before. He had thrown away his old name and become Reborn."

"How did you know all this?" Tsuna asked in a near whisper. He felt a shiver crawled up his spine. Talking about Reborn's past like this, without his permission…it felt _wrong._

Perhaps it was because a part of him said that it made Reborn more human.

"I used to know him before he was Reborn." Lal answered, shaking her head and getting rid of cobwebs of the past. "You can say we're childhood friends."

"I see…" He said reluctantly.

Tsuna wanted to tell her about his suspicion on Noel. Lal didn't know his surname, he didn't thought that it was important information. But apparently he was wrong. Noel's last name was the same as the name of Reborn's dead Family, it couldn't be a coincidence, right? But the Corvino Family was destroyed before Nono's time, which was a long time ago. And yet Noel looked like Reborn…but no, it couldn't be _that_, right? Besides, how does that account to Leo's, Skye's, Jinx's and Alex's similarities to the Arcobaleno?

He was getting a migraine thinking about all this.

Suddenly, he heard a shout from the living room. Without thinking much, the brunet rushed into the living room, Lal following. He would do anything right now to distract him of the mystery that was the Iris family.

However, he did _not _want what was happening in front of him to happen. Lambo was crying in a corner while Noel shot the young Bovino an annoyed look. Clearly, the Lightning Guardian did something to annoy him. Considering that the cow-themed boy wasn't shot or blown up though, he could say that Noel was much kinder than Reborn…or he didn't have the weapons the hitman had. Tsuna didn't want to think what Noel would do if he have the same access to weaponries as Reborn did.

He was about to calm Lambo, feeling slightly exasperated as he did so, when the Bovino suddenly pulled out a familiar bazooka. Tsuna inwardly panicked at that, and quickly pulled him away from the living room before any of the Iris saw it.

_Where does Lambo even keep the thing? In his hair!?_

But when they were in the hallway, Lambo still hadn't stopped crying. The brunet was going to calm him down, but suddenly the bazooka was aimed at him. He groaned inwardly, even without his Hyper Intuition he knew what would happen next.

As expected, a burst of pink smoke covered his vision. The world seemed to shift and spin temporarily, making him feel slightly nauseous. But before he could vomit, the world seemed to still and his feet seemed to find the ground. He was in the future.

Tsuna sighed as the pink smoke dissipated. He was _so _used to time travel now it wasn't even funny.

_I'm going to confiscate that thing later._

"Tsuna?" A familiar voice said as the smoke disappeared, sending a shock to Tsuna as he realized who stood in front of him.

_No way!_

_It couldn't be-it's ten years in the future!  
_

_How can he...!?  
_

Inside what seemed to be the Vongola Don's office, ten years in the future, stood Corvino Noel, _looking_ _the same as he was a decade in the past_.

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-(X)-

Here's chapter 10! See? I'm still alive. Sorry if I took so long for this chapter!

And so the mystery deepens and we get a couple of subplots too : D What do you guys think of this?

I'm sorry if any of the characters seems OOC, I haven't been writing KHR for so long that I think I'm losing a bit of my touch on the manga. I need to reread it…

On an unrelated note, I think my writing style has changed. What do you guys think of it? It's not bad is it?

I have also made a couple of new stories! Here they are:

**Resync**: (Assassin's Creed) AU. Sort-of Time Travel. Memories are timeless, so sending them to the past should be easy, especially when the Apple wants to tests its new Master. Altair, however, disagrees. Especially when it includes headache-inducing visions of the future, a mysterious voice in his mind and reliving his ancestors past. But perhaps, this might just be a blessing in disguise…

**Pokémon Online**: (Pokémon) AU. In a world where people can enter the virtual world, Mei Kuro, a player of the world famous MMORPG, Pokémon Online, aims for the top. However, an incident called Lock Down occurred and trapped countless players inside the game. But is the world merely an illusion? With life now measured by an HP bar, Mei attempts to find out. Welcome to the mysterious world of Pokémon…

* * *

Fun Facts:

- Quan is a state that existed in China during the Shang Dynasty (1766-1122 BC). The name of the state is identical to a word meaning _'power'_.

- Feng means _'wind' _in Chinese, which is also what Fon means. Also male phoenixes are called Feng and female phoenixes are called Huang. Since they are always together in a pair, thus they are called Feng Huang. (Thanks to CH0C0CANDYZ for the fix!)

- IP address stands for _Internet Protocol address_. It is a _numerical label_ given to a _device_ that participates in a _computer network_ that _uses the Internet Protocol_. It has two functions: host or network interface _identification _and location _addressing_. To simply say it, it's like this: "_A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route indicates how to get there._"

- Hacker is actually a term that used to mean a variety of things in computing. However, nowadays people associate hackers as computer criminals. Actually, it's not exactly true as there are many types of hackers:

1. People who are committed into breaking or sneaking through computer security. There are many kinds of this too: _Black Hats _(people who break into remote computers and usually ruins it), _White Hats _(people who sneaks in to debug or fix security problems) and _Grey Hats _(who are morally ambiguous. They can both break into and help security)

2. There's a community of enthusiastic computer programmers and system designers that's also called hackers, though theirs is a programmer subculture.

3. The last one is a hobbyist computing community focusing on hardware and software. Examples of them are Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Basically, they're hobbyist.

* * *

Well, that's it for now! I hope you guys like this chapter! _Please review! _

The Storyteller of Dreams


	11. Fir

Title: Flowers of Forgetfulness

Summary: It has been a year since the Representative War ended, since Reborn and the Arcobalenos died. Now Tsuna, in the third year of middle school, has accepted his role as Decimo fully. But what are seven supposedly dead people doing in Namimori? Are they truly the Arcobaleno? Or are they simply familiar strangers? An AU starting at the end of the Curse of the Rainbow Arc. I don't own the pic.

Author: The Storyteller of Dreams

*grins* Seems like a lot of you guys are confused with the ending of the last chapter. Well, I'm pleased to say that…you'll only going to get more confused from here on out, shishishi…. ; )

Let the story begins!

-(X)-

Chapter 11: Fir

_Fir: Time and Evaluation_

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Tsuna couldn't believe what he saw. Noel stood in front of him, unchanged by the passage of time. For a brief moment, the brunet thought that the bazooka had malfunctioned, that he wasn't in the future. But a quick glance of his surroundings proved otherwise.

On the desk behind him, stacks of paperwork piled up on the wooden table along with photos of his Family and himself. He looked at one, seeing his older self being surrounded by adult versions of his friends and Family. One photo depicted himself with Kyoko in his arms, something that caused him to blush. Another photo had him and all his Guardians, along with Noel. He blinked at that, the raven-haired boy stood next to his older self, who was sitting down on a chair. Noel looked exactly the age he was ten years ago, but there was something in his posture, in his eyes and the smirk on his lips in the photo that seemed older, like Reborn, but kinder.

Tsuna turned to face Noel, confused but letting his Hyper Intuition take over. His brown eyes flared gold as he looked at the other critically. Noel merely looked back, his body language seemingly saying that he was almost bored but there was a glint of curiosity in his eyes.

Now that he _really _looked, he could see some differences between this Noel and the one from his time. This Noel looked the same physically, but there was something…different about him, something Tsuna couldn't put his finger on. The raven-head in front of him wore a yellow shirt inside a black jacket and slacks. The way he carried himself in it reminded Tsuna of Reborn and his dark suit, but it seemed that Noel's style was much more casual, more for someone of his seeming youth. His fedora has a yellow band around it, and on the yellow, Tsuna could see some kind of symbol on it.

It was a black bird wreathed in dark flames, its wings seemingly enveloping a yellow pacifier in the middle of it.

He looked away from the fedora, eyes wide as he saw the yellow pacifier Noel wore as a necklace.

_W-what!?_

_That's Reborn's pacifier!_

_How!?_

"Close your mouth before you swallow flies, Dame-Tsuna." Noel said, almost boringly, rolling his eyes.

"W-what!?" The brunet stammered, shocked. _"Reborn!?"_

The fedora-wearing teen (but is he, really?) smiled almost amusedly, but there was a hint of…something in it that Tsuna couldn't understand. It almost seemed sad, bitter. "In a way, I am. But in the same way, I'm not."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Those cryptic words only served to confuse him further. Why can't anything be simple? "Are you Reborn or not?"

"It's not exactly that simple." The other said, smiling that odd smile again. It was as if he had mixed feelings about the issue. "I am both Reborn and not. I'm what he could have be if he didn't join the mafia, yet I'm also what he was if he joined it. I can't be one without being the other."

"I-I don't get it…" Tsuna said, suddenly feeling hopeless and frustrated. The brunet looked away, almost glaring at a piece of furniture. Why must things be _hard _for him? Nothing can ever be clear for him.

"Stop glaring at the furniture, it makes you look stupider than usual, Dame-Tsuna." Noel said, but not sharply. It was like he was teasing him, the derogatory term said in a way one usually address a friend with a nickname. The brunet turned to looked at him, sending his glare instead at him.

The other (_damn him_, Tsuna thought almost petulantly) merely chuckled at his glare. "I don't expect you to understand, Tsuna." He said, smiling emphatically. "It is kind of hard to get, and if I have to explain it I'll have to tell you a long story I doubt you understand."

"That's fine." Tsuna said, almost pouting. He was getting _tired _of all this mystery. "Just tell me the story."

"No, it's better if you live it like the Tsuna from my time." He replied, shaking his head. "You wouldn't understand otherwise. Besides, I don't want to mess up the timeline by telling you too much."

The brunet heaved a frustrated sigh, running a hand almost agitatedly through his hair. Noel has some good reasons, but Tsuna wanted to know _now_. He _needed_ to know, couldn't stand waiting for it. It was frustrating knowing that what you wanted was nearby, but you can't reach for it.

He looked around for anything else that could continue the conversation. Maybe if he continued to talk, Noel would slip something up. That sounded like a good plan.

"What is that?" Tsuna eventually asked, pointing at the symbol on the raven-head's fedora.

"This?" He replied, taking his fedora and showing it closer to the brunet. "It's my symbol, a mark of what I am."

"And what are you?" The brunet questioned, noting that he said _what _and not _who_.

The other grinned, knowing that Tsuna had caught the words. "Something you wouldn't quite believe yet."

Another cryptic answer, he was getting tired of those. Tsuna frowned slightly. "Why does it have black flames, shouldn't it you have Sun Flames?"

"You're taking it off the basis that I looked like Reborn, right?" Noel replied, putting on his hat and nodding. "You're not wrong in that, but as for why the flames surrounding the bird are dark, well…"

The raven-head extended a hand. Tsuna looked at it, jumping back a bit in surprise as black flames flared to life in his hand. The brunet's jaw dropped as he stared at Noel, completely shocked by what he saw while the other merely smirked in amusement at his surprise.

"Night Flames!?" Tsuna gasped, looking straight at Noel. No, _no_, Noel couldn't be-_but how could he…!?_ "You can't be a Vindice!"

"I'm not, don't worry." He said, extinguishing the dark flames easily. "This fire isn't a part of the Sky Flames, it's just dark, something that comes along with what I am. It's not the Night Flames, though it's easy to make that mistake. Don't worry, I'm not in any danger of turning into a vengeance-driven mummy any time soon."

"O-ok…" Tsuna said unsurely. Noel raised an eyebrow, as if almost challenging Tsuna to question him. It was incredibly like Reborn that the brunet needed a moment to remember who he was facing. "Then why is it dark?"

"Like I said, it's something that comes along with what I am." He answered, rolling his eyes. "I told you that before; learn to listen better, Dame-Tsuna."

"R-right…" Tsuna said, head dizzy with thoughts. If Noel wasn't a Vindice, but had dark flames-and yet that fire wasn't connected with the Sky Flames, it was something different, but then… _what is going on? _

"Stop trying to think so hard, Dame-Tsuna." Noel said, flicking his forehead. The brunet's eyes scrunched up at that, annoyed, but it did the trick. Tsuna calmed down somewhat. "I can practically hear you think from over here, it's annoying. Everything will be explained in time."

"Ouch…" Tsuna rubbed his forehead, glaring slightly at the raven-head in front of him. Noel merely laughed at hid indignities.

"So…" The brunet started again once the other stopped laughing. "Why are you wearing Reborn's pacifier?"

"Because it's mine." Noel answered, as if everything was that simple.

"Then you _are _Reborn." Tsuna stated, frowning slightly. Something seemed wrong with that statement…

The other shook his head, sighing. "I already told you, in a way, I am him. But I'm also _not _him."

"That doesn't make sense!" Tsuna cried out, frustrated at the lack of clear answers. "You can't be both at the same time!"

"Can't I?" Noel looked at him with a critical eye, and suddenly, Tsuna felt like he was facing Reborn. "The very nature of humanity is duality. Contradictions. We are imperfectly perfect, a _duality_ in and of itself. The things we do have both good and bad consequences, our most selfish desire can be seen as selfless, you should know that best, Tsuna. Isn't your want to keeping your family together, regardless or _in spite of _the world, a selfish thing too?"

The brunet reeled back, not expecting such words. There was something in them, something sensitive and almost personal. Did he touch a sensitive subject? Noel spoke with a kind of fierceness; as if this was a lesson that he felt Tsuna _must _learn. But for the life of him, Tsuna couldn't understand it. How could someone be two things at once?

Noel seemed to read his thoughts, because he sighed and said. "Look, we're in the mafia, which practically everyone knows is a _bad _thing. Yet, despite of that, you're the boss of the greatest and most benevolent Family, probably even better than legal companies too. Doesn't that say something?"

When put into something like that…Tsuna thought that he may understand it, but he couldn't completely grasp it yet. He stared blankly at Noel, confused.

The raven-head sighed again, a tinged of disappointment in his eyes that made Tsuna squirmed. Noel was similar to Reborn, so much so that Tsuna couldn't stand to disappoint him. But there was an understanding look too that made him feel slightly better. Noel didn't expect him to learn the lesson in one session, he knew that it would take time and experience for Tsuna to truly understand his words.

He was giving him a chance, Tsuna realized, to understand and learn. He wasn't giving up on him when he sighed at the brunet's inability to understand what he said, but instead knew that it would take time and was willing to resign himself to that.

Noel wasn't giving up on Tsuna, and it reminded the brunet incredibly of Reborn.

There was a bout of nostalgia, the pain of the past sweeping up on him, but that was expected. What was unexpected however was the oddest feeling of…something in his heart, almost akin to acceptance.

It made Tsuna feel that, in the long run, everything will be okay.

"…So, why are you still…" Tsuna said after several moments of silent. He gestured vaguely at Noel. "You know, young and all? Aren't you supposed to be an adult by now?"

Noel smirked, as if amused by Tsuna's vague gesture. "It's because of what I am." He then added, after a moment of contemplation. "…Though at your time, I'm not what I am yet. None of the Iris were, actually."

"You're not?" Tsuna asked, confused once again. "So what you are…it's because of something that happened later? You and the Iris aren't what you're now is, whatever that is?"

"Yes." Noel nodded, smiling that odd smile again. It seemed bitter and sad. "But at that point, we have no choice but to be _this_, even when we don't realize it yet."

"…What happened?" Tsuna asked, now getting worried. He recalled Jinx's words, that something big was going to happen and that it involved him and the Iris. Did it lead to this?

"Don't worry your little head about it, Dame-Tsuna." The raven-head smirked, easily shrugging off his previous expression to tease the brunet. "It's nothing bad and we get some new stuff after it too."

"Alright…" Tsuna said reluctantly. He didn't want to let go of the topic, but Noel seemed set in not telling him anything. He was like Reborn in his stubbornness that way. He bit his lip, a thought badgering him before he finally relented and asked. "Is it the Curse of the Rainbow that made you look young?"

Noel seemed almost amused by this. He chuckled lightly. "No, the way we look isn't because of the curse. We're _not _the Arcobaleno, at least not in a way. We're the Iris. Though the Rainbow Pacifiers does have a part in all this, it's not because of its curse that we're the way we are now. Pay better attention, Dame-Tsuna, like I said, this is a part of what we are now."

So it's not because of the curse that they still look young? That was a relief, because Tsuna couldn't stand another Representative War happening again. It was a lie using the Arcobaleno's desperation to find their replacements. But if it wasn't the curse, then what made them what they are now? _What _are they now anyway? How does the Rainbow Pacifiers play into this?

Tsuna let his head fall to his hands. He was so _confused_.

He hoped that by being thrown into the future he would get answers, but all it served was another set of questions.

_The universe hates me…_

That must be the only reason for Tsuna's unluckiness.

In an effort to try to clear his mind, he asked. "How are you guys involved in the mafia? In my time, none of you were in it."

"That's true." The raven-head nodded, sighing slightly. "But considering what we are, even before _it_…I supposed it was inevitable that we would get dragged into it anyway."

"It?" Tsuna echoed, confusion clearly written on his face. This was giving him nothing but questions.

The other shook his head. "You'll see later." The fedora-wearing teen shrugged. "Anyway, at your time, we weren't involved in the mafia. It was a later incident that changed that, but none of us mind it now. So don't think too much on it."

"I-I see…" The brunet said hesitatingly. It was obvious that he _didn't_ see what Noel meant.

_Why must everything be so confusing? Why can't things be __**clear **__for once?_

But then again, life wouldn't be life if it was _easy._

"Your five minutes is nearly up." Noel said, his words shaking him out of his thoughts for the moment. The raven-head tilted his head sideways. "Is there anything else you want to ask?"

Tsuna looked at the dark-haired teen. There were so many thoughts in his head, so many questions that needed answers. But Noel said that everything will be clear in time, he would just have to wait and see for himself. So instead of questioning further about the mystery that was the Iris, Tsuna thought of his friends, his Family and knew. He smiled and asked.

"How is everyone?"

Noel smiled back at him, and there was an echo of Reborn there in his approval. It was as if Tsuna had finally done the correct things, asked the right questions.

"They're fine and happy." The raven-head assured him, giving him a mischievous smirk. "Even when their boss is _such _a dame sometimes."

Tsuna laughed. "Then I'm glad that I have you with me."

"As if I can leave my no-good student alone." Noel smirked, though his lips were up in an almost-grin.

Tsuna laughed at that too, feeling that odd feeling of nostalgia mixed with acceptance coming again as his vision suddenly exploded in pink smoke. The brunet thought that he may have started to understand a bit on the lesson the other tried to teach him.

It doesn't matter whether Noel was entirely Reborn or not, he was still his tutor at the end.

The world shifted and time spiraled away, the almost-nauseous feeling coming back. But through it all, Tsuna was smiling, even when he could feel that his cheeks were wet with tears.

There was that spike of hurt, but Tsuna thought on his trip to the future as he landed in his own time and thought that he heard Noel said:

"_Everything will be okay."_

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In the past, as Tsuna was transported to the future, another brunet travelled to the past to switch with the Vongola Decimo.

Tsuna's future self sighed as the pink smoke dissipated and revealed that he was inside his old home, in the hallway. In front of him, Lal stood staring with an irate Lambo in her arms.

Using the ex-CEDEF's temporary distraction, the cow-themed boy struggled out of her grasped and ran away. Lal jerked at that, then glared at the running Bovino. Tsuna was sure that she would chase after him if it wasn't for him.

"Hello, Lal." The Vongola Decimo greeted, smiling softly.

"Tsuna." Was her reply. She crossed her arms. "Great. We have some people here now who don't know you. How will we explain this?"

He shrugged. "I'm going back to my time in five minutes. I can just hide until then."

"See that you do that then." Lal said decisively, heading to where the Lightning Guardian ran off to. Tsuna noted that she was heading towards the living room.

The brunet looked around wistfully. He missed his home in Japan sometimes, but the mansion in Italy wasn't all bad. It was filled with his friends and Family and they made the large place seemed small and homely. Of course, not all of them lived in the mansion, the only ones who officially did were his Guardians, the girls and the various maids and servants the Vongola employed. It was rather sad and troublesome sometimes, especially when he needed to meet them immediately, but it wasn't like he could stand with all of them living together anyway.

In fact, Tsuna was incredibly grateful that they didn't live together. Insurance could only cover so much.

The brunet was about to go find a hiding place –perhaps the toilet, it was only for a few minutes after all- when he heard someone called his name. It was a familiar voice, one that criticized him and supported him whenever he was in trouble –usually both at the same time. Now he knew what Lal meant by visitors.

He turned and saw the past Noel, followed closely by a slightly panicked Lal.

"Tsuna?" The fedora-wearing teen said, confused. The brunet merely smiled at him as Noel realized that he wasn't his Tsuna. "Wait, you're not him. Who are you?"

Behind the raven-head, Lal looked worried. He chuckled inwardly at that. She must have thought that they were in trouble.

Luckily, over the years, Tsuna had learned how to lie and he did so now. "I'm Tsuna's uncle, Natsu."

"You look a lot like him for an uncle…" Noel said, looking disbelieving.

"I know." Tsuna said smoothly, chuckling as if it was natural. "I heard that a lot of times."

"I see…" The raven-head didn't look convinced, but Tsuna didn't expect him to. Noel was smart, incredibly so and to fall so easily to a lie like his would make him worried. The teen frowned. "I didn't know Tsuna's uncle was visiting."

"It was an unexpected visit." The brunet from the future smiled. It wasn't a lie, per se, but it wasn't the whole truth either. It should do for now. "I was around and decided to come and see my nephew, but it seemed that he couldn't meet me."

"That reminds me, where is Tsuna?" Noel questioned, crossing his arms. From behind him, Tsuna could see that Lal looked faintly relieved when Noel seemed to let go the topic of who he was.

"Apparently, he has something to do at the moment." The brunet shrugged, as if saying _'What can you do?'_

"Great…" Noel muttered, annoyed. He looked at the brunet. "Can you tell him that I'm leaving then? I can't stand being near that idiotic cow!"

"You mean Lambo?" The future Tsuna asked, surprised. He remembered from his own time that the Lightning Guardian and Noel got along reasonably well. It wasn't like _this_.

When the other nodded, Tsuna tried to think of a reason _why_. Noel was similar to Reborn, a lot so that this shouldn't be surprising in hindsight. But why would Noel want to leave?...Hmm, Tsuna recalled how Reborn would always kick Lambo out of the room whenever he did something annoying. Ah. Noel wanted Lambo out too, but unlike Reborn, he knew he couldn't kick away a child so he chose to leave instead.

_I get it._

Tsuna remembered and knew that he was going to play a crucial part in Lambo's and Noel's relationship right here and now.

"I think you should give him a chance." The brunet said, smiling understandingly. Noel looked doubtful, which made Tsuna laughed. He couldn't believe that _he _was the one who's advising _him_. "I know Lambo can be really annoying at times…most of the time…but he's a good boy at heart."

He approached the raven-head and took something from his pocket, handing it over to the fedora-wearing teen. "If he continues to bother you, then just give him this. He really loves this, so it should quiet him down for a time."

"…Grape candies?" Noel asked, looking down at said candies in his hand.

"Yes, it's his favourite." The Vongola Decimo replied.

"I'm still not sure…" Noel said, frowning slightly at the candies and him. But at the end he sighed. "…But alright, I'll give him a chance."

Tsuna grinned at that. It was another difference between Noel and Reborn, the former was more willing to give chances than the latter. He supposed that it was because for Reborn, who lived in the underworld for so long, knew from personal experiences that chances were very limited. You could probably get only one chance if you're lucky. The Noel from his time has understood that too, not surprising since (-spoilers-), but he was willing to give chances when asked sometimes.

As the raven-head retreated back to the living room, Lal stepped forward. She frowned slightly at Noel, but turned to look at him after he was gone.

"Is there something wrong, Lal?" Tsuna asked softly. Lal was almost glaring at him, so he knew that she was upset about something.

"His name is _Corvino Noel._" She said, nearly hissing the name. "Reborn has two older siblings long time ago. His parents gave them Christmas-themed names. The oldest brother was Corvino Yule, his sister was Corvino Mistletoe and _Corvino Noel is…!"_

"I know." He nodded, speaking calmly. "It's Reborn's real name."

"What is going on here?" Lal questioned him, nearly demanding him. "_That _can't be a coincidence! And while I've forgotten his last name, I remember that Colonello's real first name was _Alex! _I didn't think on it too much at first, since there are lots of people with that name, but now _this_. _What is going on!?"_

Tsuna raised his hands up defensively, eyes sad. He didn't want any of his Family to be upset, as Lal obviously was, but he couldn't simply _tell _them. Things could happen. The future that he was living in may never happen. So Tsuna sighed, expression downcast. "I'm sorry, Lal, I can't tell you anything."

Lal didn't say a word after that, instead glaring at the adult brunet.

A tense silence enveloped them, neither willing to be the first to budge in the stubbornness.

Finally, after a moment that seemed to be a small eternity, Lal huffed and looked away. The silence was broken and Tsuna breathed a small, quiet sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry, Lal, but I can't tell you anything." The brunet said again softly. "If I do, I may mess up the timeline. Who knows what will happen next?"

"…Fine then." Lal finally relented, scowling at him.

Tsuna chuckles quietly at that, being used to it. He smiled softly. "If it helps, I can tell you one thing."

"Oh?" She asked, looking interested.

He nodded and as pink smoke enveloped his vision, he said to her:

"_Everything will be okay."_

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Lal didn't know what to make of the brunet's future self. He was calmer, more intuitive and carried the aura of a boss subtly around him like an ethereal mantle –subtle, almost soft, but undeniably _there_.

What she didn't know what to make of the most were his _infuriatingly _cryptic words!

What does he meant by _'Everything will be okay'_? There were many ways in things were 'okay' but which one does he meant? Does this meant that one day, the mystery of the Iris would be solved or would it be that it wouldn't be and they have to be content with living without knowing the truth?

_Damn it! When you're back, I'm going to increase your training __**mercilessly **__brat!_

She growled quietly as she glared at the pink smoke, almost willing it to disappear.

When the pink smoke did finally abated, she stopped and took in the state of the brunet in front of her. The Tsuna of her time was back, but he was clearly shaken from the smile and tears on his face.

A burst of worry burst out, one which Lal would deny until her face was blue. "What happened to you?"

The brunet blinked, before replying softly. "…I met Noel."

"Oh." Lal replied. "And how was he?"

"The same." Tsuna replied, wiping his tears away. He looked puzzled. "He hasn't aged one bit. He also says that the other Iris are the same."

"Iris?"

"Oh, I haven't said it to you yet." Tsuna tilted his head to the side, explaining it to her. "Well, it's what they call themselves. You know, Noel, Skye, Leo, Alex and the other three. They're a family."

"I see…" The ex-CEDEF said, unsure of what to say when the brunet looked like this. There was melancholy in his features, but also the start of acceptance, though that acceptance would take a long time to turn into a full one, much less an understanding. Lal continued. "So, did you get anything from him?"

The brunet blinked back any remaining tears, shaking his head. "No." Tsuna replied softly. "He was being really cryptic. All I get is that something happened to them that changed them. I don't know what happened…or what they were changed _to_."

"Ugh…" Lal sighed, massaging her forehead. "This is so confusing…Seems like we have a lot to talk about tonight."

Tsuna nodded, sighing as well. "Yeah…"

They headed back to the living room, but as they walked, Tsuna tilted his head, smiling softly. "But you know…he did tell me one thing."

"Oh?" She asked curiously. "And what's that?"

Tsuna smiled.

"_Everything will be okay."_

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-(X)-

And here's chapter 11! Don't kill me! I know some of you are probably _infuriated _that I just kept piling up more questions instead of answers but, well…to be honest, I really enjoy doing it! ;)

*chuckles* And I add a spoilers sign there too, I can't have you guys learn _too _much. :3

Hmm…I was toying with the idea of an omake…but I feel too lazy to do it. Maybe later. If there's an omake, what do you want it to be about?

So, to sum up what just happened in this chapter:

Tsuna went to the future, met Noel and get incredibly confused. Noel doesn't help by claiming that he's both Reborn _and not_. Then there's the Sun Pacifier he wears and his seeming youth, which apparently _doesn't _come from the Curse of the Rainbow. Oh, and he can use dark flames too, but it's _not _the Night Flames.

Meanwhile, TYL!Tsuna appeared in the past and helped Noel get on good term with Lambo…or at least tolerate him for a bit. He gave cryptic answers to Lal's questions before vanishing in pink smoke.

Shishishi…Yup, confusion is made! I think this is a job well done! ;D

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Fun Facts:

-Yule, or Yuletide, was a religious festival once held by Northern European people, but it had now been absorbed and equated to Christmas. There are several theories regarding why it was held:

First, scholars have connected the month event and Yule period to the Wild Hunt (a (a ghostly procession in the winter sky), the god Odin (who is attested in Germanic areas as leading the Wild Hunt and bears the name Jólnir), and increased supernatural activity, such as the aforementioned Wild Hunt and the increased activities of draugar—undead beings who walk the earth.

Second, Modranicht, an event focused on collective female beings attested by Bede as having occurred among the pagan Anglo-Saxons on what is now Christmas Eve, has been seen as further evidence of a fertility event during the Yule period.

Generally, Yule is celebrated around Midwinter and feasting, drinking and sacrificing are involved. Some of its traditions, like the Yule goat, Yule log (and etc) are still reflected in the Christmas ham.

-Mistletoe is a parasitic plant that takes its food from its host tree. Regardless of that, it has a general good reputation. It symbolizes _'affection' _and in the language of flowers says _'kiss me'_. I think we all know a certain famous Christmas tradition involving this plant.

Mistletoes also represent _'I surmount all difficulties'. _It is also a sacred plant of India and is a magic plant of the druids.

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Sorry if this is shorter. Things are picking up now, though when I look at my timeline for this fic it seems that it'll be a while before we can get into the climax of Arc 1 -_-

Hopefully, I can get this arc completed within the year. Then we can move to the next arc and the next set of mysteries and challenges it brings ^_^

Thank you for reading all this!

The Storyteller of Dreams

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_**PLEASE REVIEW!**_


	12. Osmunda

Title: Flowers of Forgetfulness

Summary: It has been a year since the Representative War ended, since Reborn and the Arcobalenos died. Now Tsuna, in the third year of middle school, has accepted his role as Decimo fully. But what are seven supposedly dead people doing in Namimori? Are they truly the Arcobaleno? Or are they simply familiar strangers? An AU starting at the end of the Curse of the Rainbow Arc. I don't own the pic.

Author: The Storyteller of Dreams

First off, I'm really sorry it took so long to get this up. To be honest, I'm not that inspired anymore to write a KHR fic, ever since the manga has ended. However, you guys were simply too nice and I couldn't just end this off without finishing it properly. So I'm determined to finish this, even if it's gonna take me years to do so.

Alright, now I'm breaking away from the promise I made to myself about not letting any Iris POV show in Arc 1. I hope this will be good…

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Chapter 12: Osmunda

_Osmunda: Dreams_

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_There was-_

_Fire, pain, everything burned and where was Mom, where was Dad and no-_so_meo__**ne **_i_s__**-**_**y**o_u c__**a**_n't-_**NO!**_

_There was-_

_A party, his birthday, green yard and colourful streamers and his siblings were saying, _**h**_**e**__y_, it_'s t_i**m**_**e**__ y_**ou l**e_arn_ **h**_**o**__w t_o u_**se **__a_ **g**_un!_

_There was-_

_Swirls of colours, no distinction and he's losing himself, so w_h_**o i**__s _**h**_e a_nd_**wh**_**a**_**t **__is h_**e b**_ut n_o, **n**_o, __**n**__o, b_e**c**_**au**__se he kn_o**w**_**s**__ w_ho **h**_**e i**__s and he is I_r**i**_**s, h**__e is C_or_vi__**no**__, h_e i_s __**N**__o_**e**l_._

_R_**i**_gh__**t**_**?**

_There was-_

_A tall dark man in his dreams. Eyes as dark as sin bore his and he gasped, because he knew, he kn_ew w_ho _h_**e w**_a**s**_ a__**nd**__ wh_**y w**_**a**__s he h_e_r_e_ a__**nd**__ ev_**er**_**y**_th_in_g **m**_ak_es s_e_**n**_se b__**ut **__no he d_o**es**_**n**__'t kn_o_w, not re_al**l**_**y b**__ecause No__**el **__is _N_oe_**l **_a__**nd**__ he _i_**s**__-_

_The man smirked, but there was a tinge of melancholy. W_h_**y**__?_

_He's swept again by his dreams and now he sees his family, __**HIS **__family, not one emblazoned with shields and bullets and do i_**t **_**wi**__th _yo_ur_** d**yi_n__**g wi**_**l**_l-_

_Yellow flames burst in his vision, like dying flowers._

"_D..on…don't…mistakes…"_

_There was-_

_The flash of a pacifier, a checkered face, students who were too good for their own sakes and this is the end except it's not, no it's not b__**e**__c_a**u**_**s**__e-_

There was nothing.

Corvino Noel woke up.

.

-(X)-

.

With a gasp, one Corvino Noel woke up.

Moonlight shone through the gaps left by the curtains, drawing lines and silhouettes in the single room that makes up the most of the Iris family's home. The dark-haired boy laid on his yellow bed set, looking up at the moonshined ceiling with panting breaths.

"What…?" Noel muttered to himself, drawing deep breaths.

That dream again. Though it varied from nights to nights, he knew it was that dream again. The one with the dark man and the yellow flames. He knew that it was not a normal dream. And yet it wasn't a nightmare either. He couldn't exactly say _what _it was, but he knew for certain that it was no ordinary dream.

With a ragged sigh, Noel tilted his head back, enough so that he could see the hands covering his in the center of the circle of bed sets. A slow smile warmed its way to his face as he looked at them and eased his breathing. The hands belonged to his family, his sisters and brothers, who also drew the same comfort he gained from being close to each other.

It was a family nightly tradition. Every night, without fail, the seven of them would sleep in a circle, their hands spread-out to the middle of the circle and covered each other. It was a comfort thing, something to know that there would always be people who cared about you, and a kind of unspoken sign from the people who loved you and would always be with you no matter what. Because they also dreamed the same thing he did, fell into the same strange not-nightmare, not-dream thing as he did.

Their dreams were different, but there was a thread of sad similarity somewhere in there. It helped when they woke up to see that, unlike their dreams, they were loved and safe.

Slowly, so as to not wake anyone else, Noel withdrew his hand and stuck it to his shirt. He took out a clear pacifier, hanging around his neck like some kind of solemn warning.

At least for him it seemed like a solemn warning, as it glows a soft yellow. The colour wasn't bright enough to fill up the pacifier, but Noel swore that he could see the flickers of flames, much like in his dreams.

He shivered slightly, and Noel wasn't sure how much of it was from the actual cold. Whenever his pacifier lit up like this, he would always feel slightly drained, as if bits of his life were burned to ignite the flickering flames. In exchange however, he felt powerful. Perhaps not strong enough to take on the world, but powerful enough anyway to become a force to be reckoned with.

Noel wasn't sure which one frightened him the most, the first or the latter effect.

And it wasn't just him. His siblings have the same condition too. It was another thing that they have in common, besides their dreams. They, too, possessed clear pacifiers that, under certain circumstances, would light up and gave that powerful feeling. Noel often wondered about that. Why did they have the pacifiers? Why can't they remove them? They had tried, but they never could bear being separated from it for too long. He wondered if all of this, their dreams and pacifiers, have something to do with each other.

And then, there were their memories.

Try as he might, Noel couldn't seem to remember anything past the day he met his siblings, on that rainy day under the broken roof.

With the younger kids, it made sense that they wouldn't remember anything. The youngest, Skye, was _two-years_ _old _when they first met. But Noel was six at that time, and he was sure that he should have remembered _something _about his past. Perhaps a faint impression of the people who left him in that poor excuse of an orphanage. Why did he end up there in the first place anyway? In fact, as Noel further thought about it, he couldn't remember the reason he was under that broken roof during that fateful rainy day.

He sighed quietly. So many questions, so many things he didn't know…

Silently, the dark-haired boy stood up and made his way to the adjoined kitchen. He was careful though, sticking to the walls and moving slowly so he wouldn't trip over something in the darkened room and awakened his siblings. When he arrived at his destination, the home tutor groped around in the darkness for his mug and the coffee machine. Carefully, so as to not accidentally press the button that turns the brewer into a robot (it was something he, Strawberry-head and Vaan did when they were bored. Skye was _not _pleased when she found out the hard way that they turned her cooking equipment into a robot that spewed out coffee and strawberries for ammo), Noel fingered the buttons until he was fairly certain he found the correct one and pressed it.

Now all he has to do was wait.

Quietly, he dragged a chair and sat down. He tilted his head back, looking up again at the ceiling as he combed his hand through his unruly spiky hair. He wasn't wearing his fond fedora. And thinking about that, he was reminded of another thing. Where did he get that? As far as the dark-haired boy knew, he had it ever since he could remember. It was the same with Skye's tattoo and Leo's glasses, Vaan's helmet and Alex's bandana, Feng's deadly dumplings recipe and Jinx's marks.

_A fedora, a pair of glasses and a bandana could be explained. Maybe it was left behind by the people who abandoned us there. A helmet is a weird choice to leave behind, but it could still be explained. _

_But if Feng-nii could remember the dumplings recipe, then why can't he remember his past before the orphanage? He's the oldest, being eight when we all met. He should have remembered something._

_And who would tattoo a two-year old girl? Not to mention that Jinx-nee got tattoos too, but she can't remember where she got them. She's like Feng-nii. They're the oldest but like us they can't remember anything before then._

With an aggravated sigh, Noel brought up his pacifier. It was no longer glowing, and he could no longer feel the fatigue that a lit pacifier brought. In the moonlight, the pacifier was clear.

_What is it with you and our dreams? What's the connection between all this and our memories?_

It was a question he has been asking for years, but he knew he would not gain answers tonight.

Noel let out another frustrated sigh, tucking the pacifier back into his shirt. It hung around his neck, touched the skin of his chest coldly, and he couldn't help but think of it as a solemn promise of something yet to come.

_Will I ever find my answers?_

"Bad dreams?" A voice startled him. Noel snapped his head, hand unconsciously twitching towards his pocket, and looked at his older brother, the ever calm Quan Feng,

"Yeah…" The teenage genius replied, calming down. Briefly, he wondered why he thought that he has a gun in his pocket and further wondered why he would point a gun at his own _brother_.

"_That _kind of dreams?" Feng asked with his usual smile, but it was dimmed down, Noel saw. Did he have the same kind of dream too?

"What else?" He shrugged, leaning against his chair. His brother chuckled, but it was subdued. Noel frowned slightly. "Did you have a similar dream, Feng-nii?"

"Yes…" The self-taught martial artist replied, sighing slightly. For a moment, Noel could see how tired he was, how exhausting being the eldest and making sure that the whole family was safe and sound was for him. The dreams didn't help one bit.

"Hey, I'm making some coffee. Do you want some?" He asked softly.[

'[

His older brother smiled a bit, a hint of exhaustion making its way to his smile. "Sure, Noel-kun."

"What's your dream about?" Noel asked as he took out his brother's mug and poured the caffeine into it, then into his mug. The dark-haired teen knew that talking about it would help. Besides, that was what he did for his family, be the listening ear to anyone's problems.

He handed the mug to his brother, who accepted gratefully.

"It's…" The martial artist started, then stopped suddenly. Noel took that time to patiently drink his coffee. He knew from experience that talking about traumatizing things, even though they came from not-dreams, required time, patience and trust. He already has his brother's trust and his patience came in spades in regards to his family. All that was left was time and he always has time for the people he loved.

"…I don't really know what to say…" His brother admitted after some time. "It's just…well, how do you describe a dream?"

"We can try." Noel encouraged. "Start from the beginning, or what you feel is the beginning."

"Well…" Feng licked his lips, eyes looking far away. "I…I think that there was some fight. No, it was more than that. Some people…they were tearing down a house…my home. Which doesn't really make sense since you guys are my home, not wherever that dream takes place."

"Dreams hardly ever make sense." Noel said dryly with a smirk.

His brother chuckled quietly. "That's true. Anyway, there were children in there. I don't know why, but I feel like I care for them as much as I love you guys. So when the people who destroyed the home in my dreams took them I…"

There his brother fell short, looking far away into a place that may or may not exist. Noel could figure out the gaps easily though.

"Did they force you to do things?" Noel asked, though he felt that he already knew the answer. Faint images of experiments, the phantom pinpricks of needles pushing their way into his skin overwhelmed him for a moment before he pushed them all back. They were dreams, he reminded himself firmly.

His brother nodded, and that was all the confirmation he needed.

"Let me guess, you feel that you're responsible for whatever happened in your dream." It was so like his responsible, protective older sibling to take the blame for whatever went wrong in his family, be it in dreams or not. "You feel guilty because you think that you could have done better, that you could have prevented those men, even though it seemed highly impossible. You feel angry at them for using those children against you and for forcing you to do things you don't want."

He said it all calmly. Feng looked at him, half surprised and half not. After a moment or two, his older brother laughed quietly.

"Sometimes, I think you're a mind reader, Noel-kun." His brother chuckled silently.

"One of my many talents, Feng-nii." Noel smirked back.

Sighing, his older brother leaned back against his chair. "You're right, Noel-kun, on all accounts."

"I'm rarely wrong." Noel replied, before he got serious again. "Feng-nii, you got to remember that these are all just _dreams_. They're not real."

"Do you really believe that though?" Feng questioned quietly, looking into his mug.

Noel looked away briefly, his eyes caught on the pictures and photographs that hung on the walls. For a second he thought he saw something else, the inside of a mansion and a crest engraved on the floor. He could see a shield, but he couldn't decide whether there was a raven or a bullet on the crest. Then the vision faded and he saw the pictures of his family again.

The thing was, for a second he thought that those crests meant family to him just as much as those pictures did.

"No." Noel admitted softly. "I don't."

"Thought so." Feng replied dryly with an empty smile. He brought the mug to his lips and took a slow sip.

"But either way…" Noel insisted, looking at his brother. "It's _not your fault_. Understand? I may not know the details in your dream, but I can tell that it's not your fault and you're tripping yourself up for no good reason."

He has to make sure that he got his point across. "I _know _you, Feng-nii. In that kind of situation, you would have tried your best to fight those people. But there are also some things in this world that you just _can't _help and you have to accept your limits. No one can be a hero and save everyone _all _the time."

"Maybe it's not a dream; maybe it's real, who knows? But whatever happened you tried your best." Noel sighed and took a moment to drink his coffee. "But we're humans and that means that we trip, we stumble and we fall sometimes. That's okay. You just have to be _better _next time."

He hoped his words got through to his brother, and that Feng would understand him. The dreams could take a toll on them; made them think that whatever happened was real. Usually, what occurred in their dreams was far from nice. Abandonment, loneliness, seeing everything burned and being helpless, and that was just the tip of the iceberg. Sometimes, Noel wondered what they did to deserve such things. Did they sin too much in their past lives?

That was why he did this. A simple talk could clear up a lot of things and lightened your heart. Skye sometimes teasingly referred to him as the sun in their family, always bright, practically all-knowing and always there to cheer them up in his own sometimes crazy, definitely eccentric ways.

"Thank you, Noel-kun." Feng said after several moments have passed. His smile was a little less empty now, a bit more genuine, though Noel knew that it took a while for the effects of the strange dreams to wear off. His older brother chuckled. "Why do you always know what to say?"

"Like I said before, one of my many talents, Feng-nii." He answered with a smirk, more at ease.

His brother laughed quietly. "Very well then…" He glanced at the spot where their remaining siblings were sleeping, a small frown making its way to his face. "Hmm…they should be up soon. Perhaps you should make more coffee?"

"I was planning to do it just now." Noel agreed, standing up and walking to the brewer.

It was another thing with their family. If one of them has the strange dream, then it's almost guaranteed that the others have similar dreams as well.

When he was done, Noel returned to his seat and waited patiently for his other siblings to wake up. A few moments passed and he was almost dozing in his seat when Alex shifted from his bed set and moved towards them.

"Great, you made coffee." The blond said as he took his mug and sat down with them. They didn't ask whether he had a dream. It was already obvious on his shaken face and trembling shoulders.

Noel was about to ask Alex what he dreamt about, but he didn't get the chance as Vaan gasped quietly and woke up panting. Next to him, Jinx curled into a fetal position, eyes shut tight as she quietly screamed. Then Leo started crying, his face set in a grimace as Skye frowned in her sleep and quietly murmured to the night.

The three brothers didn't waste a second to head back to the circle of sleeping siblings and wake them up. Feng gently nudged Jinx awake, who nearly screamed when she woke and clung tightly to the eldest brother for a few moments afterwards with the martial artist murmuring small comforts to the psychic. Alex woke Skye up, and the little girl hugged him immediately, her tears staining his shirt. Noel quickly reassured Vaan, who clung to him as if he's his lifeline, and woke Leo up.

"Guys?" Noel piped up after several minutes had passed, his hands running soothingly up and down his little brothers back. "I made coffee. Want some?"

Alex laughed, though it was slightly strained, trying to lighten the mood. "_Of course _the coffee-addicted shorty would make coffee."

"That would be great, Noel-nii…" Skye answered with a shaky smile. "I think everybody needs it."

"Then come on." Noel managed to grin despite the sombre mood. "I made enough for everyone."

.

-(X)-

.

"So let's review what we know of the Iris family."

Tsuna sat back, leaning against the wall of his room as Lal took charge of the discussion. The moon was high on the sky, making its gentle glide across the heavenly body and reminded Tsuna of how much time had passed. Or how much it _hadn't. _As it was, the Iris family have only been here for a couple of days.

"They look disturbing a lot like seven certain people we know." Lal said, frowning and crossing her arm. She sat cross-legged in front of him. There were only two of them in the room, as it was too late by now to call more of his Guardians.

While the similarities between the Iris and the Arcobaleno were too much to be a coincidence, for now they seem harmless and therefore there was no need to actually call and worry his Guardians too much. He would tell them tomorrow, when they meet at school. For now, this discussion only held the two of them, with the children obliviously sleeping in their rooms.

"Some of them even used their real names." Tsuna said, thinking back on what Lal told him of the Corvino Family and Colonello's name. "They act like them too, but there are telling differences."

"Lack of weaponries, the relaxed auras of unknowing civilians around us, the quirks and behaviours that's different from their Arcobaleno counterparts." Lal listed off. "They're also orphans who ran away from their orphanage when they were young. We got proof of that from Chrome, along with evidence that they were apparently taking jobs at the same time the Arcobaleno were alive."

"There's also that one incident with the Ryuujin Clan's heir, Ryuujin Satoru." Tsuna murmured, thinking back on the last time he saw the mischievously-smiling, narrowed eye teen. The dark-haired boy had said that he was giving him a present soon, and that he hoped he liked it. That meeting was a couple of weeks before the Iris family moved in, and Tsuna wondered if it was coincidence.

"That Family that they were watching out for, it was destroyed during that incident right?" Lal stated more than asked. "Satoru was secretive when he told what happened; though he did tell us that a family called Iris was somehow involved."

"But he said that they were also innocent, and then swept the whole thing under the rug." Tsuna said back, scratching the floorboards with a nail. He remembered Satoru saying that, but at the time didn't think that the Iris mentioned then would be the same Iris he now met. He frowned, suspicious at how easily the teen shrugged the whole thing off with a smile and a bat of his fan. Back then, Tsuna didn't think much on it. Families have their secrets after all, but if it somehow implicates _his _Family…

Well then, he would need to _talk _with the Ryuujin Clan heir.

"What's his relationship with the Iris anyway?" Tsuna wondered aloud, tilting his head.

"Another reason to ask him." Lal sighed and Tsuna closed his eyes momentarily. It seemed that there were more mysteries regarding the Iris than he thought.

When he opened his eyes, the brunet said. "In the future, something happened to them. Noel wouldn't tell them _what_, but at least they're alive. However, Noel looked pretty much the same as he is _now_."

He looked at Lal, and sure enough her eyes widened at the implication. She gasped. "He didn't age?"

"No." Tsuna affirmed softly. "Neither did the rest of the Iris, he said. And he could produce black flames too, but he said that it's _not _the Night Flames."

"Wait, he knew about the Night Flames?" The former CEDEF questioned. "Then he should know about the Vindice which means…"

"He knows about the mafia." Tsuna finished. He felt like slapping himself at that. Why didn't he see that one before?

"So that means in the future either he or his family are involved in the mafia, preferably with the Vongola." Lal stated, and he couldn't miss the look of faint confusion and wistfulness. He thought of Alex and his similarities to Colonello and wondered if that was why she looked the way she looked now.

"Yeah…" Tsuna said, sighing. He frowned as he looked up at the ceiling. "Today I met Jinx. She's a bit older than me, but looked a lot like Mammon, or at least I think so. Can't ever be sure with that Arcobaleno…"

Lal chuckled quietly. "Mammon's gender is its own mystery."

"_Anyway…_" Tsuna continued, chuckling a bit at Lal's words. But he sobered up when he remembered Jinx's pleas. "She said that something's going to happen and it will involve us, or at least me, and them. She doesn't know _what _though."

"That's troubling…" Lal murmured. "Did you get the latest report from the Special Intelligence Division?"

"Yeah." Tsuna nodded. Ever since he had accepted his eventual position as boss of the greatest mafia family, Nono has been making sure he was caught up to the latest happenings in the Family. It's time he learned a bit more about the Family, the grandfatherly old man had said. "They reported hackers or a hacker trying to sneak through the Vongola's firewalls. They always give up on the fourth layer though, but no one could track them."

"Sounds like they're looking for something, doesn't it?" Lal said, her words ominous. "It seems that a Family is going to try to attack the Vongola sometime soon and the Iris might get caught up into this."

Tsuna swallowed. He didn't like where this was going. "They're civilians. They shouldn't get involved in the mafia."

"Yet they did in the future." Lal pointed out. "In any case, there's a chance that the other Family would see a connection between you and them and try to use them against you, against the Family."

"Then we'll just have to protect them." _And keep them from knowing_, though that goes unsaid. Lal knew though. Tsuna hated having innocents somehow involved in the Family's battle, even ones that looked so much like the Seven Strongest. "That's what the Vongola do, why it was created in the first place. We fight to protect and we shouldn't," _wouldn't, _"involve others unless we really have to."

Lal smirked softly. "Spoken like a true boss, Tsuna."

"Well, I did learn." Tsuna replied softly. "So what else?"

"On Family related matters? That's it." Lal shrugged. "Though I think you need to tell at least Nono about this. On Family unrelated matters however…I'm sure you've heard about the mysterious killings."

Tsuna nodded. "Yeah. I didn't see Kyouya today, but I heard rumours that it's spreading to Namimori."

"We don't know whether it's mafia related or not." Lal said. "Most likely not, because the killings are random and sporadic. The targets ranged from innocent civilians to minor mafia bosses. The manner the victims were killed also suggests that, at best, an amateur did it or someone who wants their 'work' to be noticed badly."

Tsuna gulped. "At worst?"

The former cursed woman gave him a long look. "At worst, the one who killed them aren't human at all."

The room grew cold. Tsuna shuddered, shivering slightly. Not humans?

"The timing of the killings doesn't coincide with the Iris appearance." Lal continues on, ignoring Tsuna's slightly scared look. "It does, however, coincide with the _disappearance of the Arcobaleno_. The first murder started around a couple of months after the Representative War ended."

"That's…strange." Tsuna said. It was the only thing he _could _say.

Lal gave him an annoyed look. "Yeah. Strange."

Tsuna sighed, the brunet leaning further back against the wall. He dragged a hand across his face, suddenly tired. He couldn't keep up, or at least feel like he could keep up. There were just too many questions, too many unknowns. Who are the Iris? What's Satoru's part in all this? He's an ally, sure, and Tsuna trusted his instincts when they say that he's a good person at heart, if only as eccentric as the rest of his Family. But he deliberately left some parts secrets, and Tsuna wondered what he's trying to hide. What about the Family that's going to attack the Vongola? What about the mysterious killings?

What happened on that last day of the Representative War?

Tsuna's head _hurt _just wondering about it all.

Lal looked at him pityingly. She sighed. "Why don't we take a break? We'll talk more tomorrow."

Tsuna nodded, but before he went to bed, he picked up his phone and quickly dialled a number.

Lal was right. He deserved to know this.

"_Ah, Tsunayoshi-kun, what's the matter?"_

"Grandpa, I have something I need to tell you…"

.

-(X)-

.

"-and that's how the prince saved the princess." Jinx said, as she weaved her illusions through the night.

Skye and Vaan watched, entranced, as their older sister created pictures and sounds to suit her storytelling in front of them. Leo watched it all with an air of disinterest, but it was clear to Noel that he loved hearing their sister's stories nonetheless. Alex sat nearby the kids, occasionally making comments on the story and Feng merely listened through it all with a smile. Noel leaned back, enjoying the story and felt relaxed, the tension from their strange dreams draining away over the course of Jinx's stories and Skye's hot chocolate milk.

The Iris, though they were young, has certain nightly traditions. This was one of them.

"And they live happily ever after, right?" Skye asked, looking up at the storyteller. She always asked this question whenever Jinx's stories involved princesses. Noel wondered how much of it was due to her dreams of princesses trapped in gilded cages without princes to save them and clear happy endings.

Jinx looked down at her illusion, and Noel knew what she would say next. It was the same thing she always said when Skye asked her this question. "…Not exactly."

Noel closed his eyes as his elder sister continued weaving her story, the plot growing more and more complex with every sentence. This is a familiar element in her stories. The dark-haired boy wonder how did she grew so cynical about the world, that she doubted that anyone could ever get a happy ending without much pain and sadness. How much of it was because of her dreams of abandonment and forsakenness?

These dreams were too real, Noel thought tiredly, and affected them too much.

And yet, at the end, the prince and the princess _did _get a happy ending, though it wasn't what one would expect. That element, he thought privately with something akin to pride in his chest, came from _her, _from _them. _That was the part not affected by dreams, but by a family who loves and cherish, even though the way they do so was strange to say the least.

Still, stories could be a whole lot simpler, especially night-time stories. But, he mused, a complex story wasn't so bad either. It was interesting and, for a moment, they could forget about their strange dreams and be enamoured by the lives of others.

And that, he thought, as Jinx brought her story to a close, dispelling her illusions and letting the natural moonlight be the only light source in the room, was the reason his elder sister did this.

"That's the end of it." Jinx said, clapping her hands together. "Now, time to sleep. Come on!"

There were much grumbling among the three younger kids. Noel grinned as he mussed Leo's mop of green hair, the other vainly trying to bat his hand off. "Come on, Strawberry-head, even geniuses needs to sleep."

"_I _don't." Leo said grumpily, before a yawn escaped his lips. The home tutor chuckled and nudged his younger brother to his green bed set, already taking off his glasses and setting it next to his sleeping mat.

"…The dreams?" Vaan questioned quietly, almost inaudibly. But the Iris was used to him and his voice was, to them, as loud as any other normal person.

"You know they don't come twice in one night." Noel reassured him, tucking him under his violet blanket. "Night, Vaan."

"Good night, Noel-nii…" The violet-head murmured sleepily.

The rest had already tucked into their own sleeping places. Noel tucked himself under his blanket, then outstretched an arm out to the center of the circle. The others followed suit, their hands overlapping his. In the warmness of their hands and the closeness of their presences, Noel found peace and solace from dreams of bullets and blood and flames.

Now there was just one more nightly tradition left to do.

"I love you guys." Skye started first. She was always, always the first.

"Good night." Feng murmured. There was always a desperate keen in his voice during this nightly ritual, as if this might be the last time he would see them and he wanted to say _everything _to them. "I love you."

"Night, kora." Alex said, relaxed and cheerful. But he tightened his grip on their hands. "Love you guys."

"….I love you guys." Leo said, always hesitant to say his part but would always say it nonetheless.

Vaan always gripped their hands tightly as they fall asleep, almost seemingly afraid that if he let go, they would disappear. "Love you guys."

It's his turn, and as flashes of fire and bullets and dark-haired siblings with Christmas names flickered on his vision, remnants of a dream, Noel said. "I love you guys."

Finally, it was Jinx's turn. "I love you." She said softly, almost inaudible, as if shy and afraid to say the words.

Noel smiled and turned in his bed set, closed his eyes and slept. The others fell asleep too, until there was no one awake to see the glide of moonshine slowly making way for daylight.

They have no strange dreams tonight.

.

.

.

-(X)-

AAAAAND I'M DOOONEEE! ^ _ ^

Incredible, I _actually _updated! I still can't really believe myself…

And I broke my personal rule against Iris POV during the first arc, but oh well. I hope my writing style hasn't degraded…

Fun Facts:

- If the dream sequence was trippy and not really understandable, that's alright. It wasn't really understandable for me either…I had a freaking headache when I made that one up. I suspect that the headache came from me eating something with MSG a bit before I wrote that part.

MSG, otherwise known as Monosodium glutamate, is generally used as a food enhancer (makes your food taste better). It's safe in small doses, but particularly sensitive people may feel headaches after eating something with it. My science teacher once said that MSG absorbed oxygen heading to your brain, hence the headaches. You can dissolve it faster by drinking milk though. In large amounts though…well, eating a lot of something that takes the oxygen that's supposed to go to your brain is _clearly _signing yourself up for trouble.

- Strong dreams _can _traumatize people as psychological trauma comes from stressful events that break down your sense of security. For different people, what can traumatize them is different as it is the _subjective emotional event _that causes and determines it. The Iris' dreams, as you just saw a glimpse of, are _wacky _at best and kinda disturbing. Noel knew that it can be potentially damaging to his family and since they can't stop the dreams, he tries his best to treat the symptoms by talking and listening to them (they can't afford a therapist). The others also knew that they either need to band together against the dreams or go crazy, and since the first option is infinitely preferable to the latter, they started their nightly traditions.

Thank you for reading! ^ _ ^ Please write a review or else I might go off on a long break _again._

The Storyteller of Dreams


	13. Aspen Tree

**Title: **_**Flowers of Forgetfulness**_

**Summary**_**: It has been a year since the Representative War ended, since Reborn and the Arcobalenos died. Now Tsuna, in the third year of middle school, has accepted his role as Decimo fully. But what are seven supposedly dead people doing in Namimori? Are they truly the Arcobaleno? Or are they simply familiar strangers? An AU starting at the end of the Curse of the Rainbow Arc. I don't own the pic.**_

**Author: **_**The Storyteller of Dreams**_

**I'm pretty sure in the West, people uses first name first and surnames last. Since the flashbacks come from Timoteo's point of view, it will be regarded as such.**

**All the mysteries have been laid out on the table. Now all that's left to do is the messy, sorta complicated job of opening and discovering the truth. No matter how impossible it may seem.**

**.**

-(X)-

Chapter 13: Aspen Tree

_Aspen Tree: Lamentation_

-(X)-

.

.

.

_The first time Vongola Nono met Reborn, he wasn't the boss of the Vongola yet, and Reborn hasn't become the world's greatest hitman._

_It was years and decades ago, when the world was a bit younger, a little bit fresh, yet still bore the scars of old wars and promises of future threats. He was young then, ten, baby fat and all, while Reborn was a six-year old named Noel Corvino who was squirming and laughing underneath his older brother's grip and sister's relentless teasing. In the green yard of the Corvino Estate, the children played and laughed and cried under the sunlight._

"_This is our brother." Yule Corvino said, grinning. He was older than him, with relatively tame spiky black hair and sharp eyes, Timoteo remembered. At that time, the heir to the Corvino Family was eleven, his sister ten, the youngest six. There was a hint of pride in his voice as he introduced the giggling child. Yule always held pride in his Family. "Noel Corvino."_

"_Say hi, kid." Mistletoe said from beside him, her smile wide as she poked on her younger brother's cheek. Curls of dark hair fell to her cheeks and tumbled over her shoulders in soft waves as she looked down at her beloved younger brother with sparkling eyes. At ten-year old, Timoteo had thought that she looked kind of pretty…_

_The future greatest hitman pouted, trying to slap her hand away, but failed. Two pairs of dark eyes glinted with amusement, and while Timoteo silently pitied the kid, he found it rather amusing as well. The scene was an entirely domestic one, and seemed incredibly unfitting considering what happened in the future._

_Noel frowned, but on his childish face, it looked more like a pout. His older siblings laughed, their voices bright and merry. Timoteo closed his eyes momentarily, reluctant to stay in this memory of the past yet allowed it to played out anyway, and briefly wondered how the two young assassins before him managed to look so carefree, so loving, among their Family while their hands were stained in blood._

_The Corvino always started early, and always kept a close eye on its members. That was why they had been producing the world's greatest hitmen and women for generations._

_They know kindness, though, and families. So while one was groomed to be the heir and the other to replace Don Corvino's brother as the greatest assassin, the third was spared from tears and bloodshed. If only that could be, Timoteo thought._

_When he opened his eyes again, a pair of young dark eyes looked at him. Too innocent by much, and it shouldn't belong to someone who would later kill without batting an eye, to someone who had bled and was cursed for his Family. It reminded him distinctly of Tsuna, who had better luck when being introduced to the mafia world by his tutor._

_With a small pout at his brother's and sister's teasing, Noel said. "Hi, I'm Noel. What's your name?"_

_Timoteo smiled and introduced himself. "I'm Timoteo Vongola. It's nice to meet you, Noel."_

_Next to them, the dark-haired boy and girl watched with a hint of amusement and definite happiness. For a while, the children laughed in the green yard under the sun, a pleasure they would no longer receive in the future. For a while, they were the picture of a happy childhood, blissfully unaware of the fates that awaited them._

_For a while, everything was _**okay**.

_But time moves on, as it always does, and those who could not keep up with it would be trampled underfoot._

.

-(X)-

.

Sighing, the boss of the world's greatest mafia Family reclined his back against his chair. Almost lazily, his eyes drifted to the windows and looked at the mass of white clouds they were speeding past on their way to Japan. It may have took him a couple of weeks to clear his schedule, what's with all the paperwork and growing signs of a Family attack that left most of the Vongola wary, but he managed to do it and, after he met this person that his heir described as being too much like Reborn to be a coincidence, he was going to take full advantage of his week off to finally _relax_.

Not that he didn't love the Vongola or anything, but enough paperwork and assorted eccentricities from his Guardians can drive a man _crazy_.

With a sigh, he relaxed against his chair. A little ways behind him, his adopted son shifted and said. "Is this really necessary?"

"Yes." Timoteo answered, sighing. "You'll need to be there to ascertain whether this Jinx Velia is really Mammon or not."

"And what if she is?" Xanxus asked, near challenging. Timoteo wondered, why must everything nearly have to be a fight with him?

"Then we shall plan our next move later." The Vongola boss said, looking at his son. It didn't matter that Xanxus wasn't really his from blood relations or that he tried to kill him twice. He was his son and that was final. "From what I heard they are happy living a civilian life."

"So we don't inform them of the Vongola?" Xanxus questioned, gazing at the sky now. There was rage in his body, but that was characteristic of him, to the point that Timoteo knew that right now, his son was actually rather relaxed considering everything. If anything, he looked thoughtful. But perhaps that was because they were about to meet the faces of very familiar strangers.

"Not if they're really not the Arcobaleno." Timoteo replied and thought back to the first days he met Reborn, before he took on that name and threw away his past. He wondered, if his old friend got an unexpected second chance at life, would he take it and leave the darkness of the underworld? "And not if they don't remember anything."

Xanxus head snapped up at that, staring at him, and he looked back evenly, calmly. After a few moments the Varia leader nodded and settled back in his chair. "Alright old man, have it your way."

Timoteo chuckled. "It's not really my way…" The old man gazed out to the sky.

"It's more of…Tsuna's way."

.

-(X)-

.

_Timoteo was fifteen when he discovered Noel's love for all things science._

_It was after one rather deadly (for him) incident involving one of Noel's robot inventions going out of hand. The __**thing **__tried to attack him and shaved his head. Noel had tried frantically to stop it, but to no avail and the only thing Timoteo could do was knock it around with his sceptre as he tried to remember how to get into Hyper Dying Will Mode._

"_We're-hoomee?" Yule said as he entered his younger brother's 'lab', eyebrows raising as he beheld the sight of a teenager trying to knock a death machine off him with what pretty much amounts to a stick while his younger brother was frantically trying to figure out a way to stop it. _

"_Huh." The Corvino heir said, sounding faintly amused. Timoteo threw a glare at him. "This isn't what I expect when we come home."_

"_Really?" Mistletoe's voice sounded from behind him. The fifteen-year old assassin stepped forward from her brother's back, looking at the scene with blatant amusement. Her bright voice caused him to look at her direction, and he saw the huge smile on her face. It stunned him, for a moment, because it made her look beautiful. The momentary distraction caused him to lose a chunk of his hair._

_She laughed, and Timoteo hoped that his red cheeks were mistaken to be from embarrassment rather than from seeing her. "I was actually expecting something like this. This is what happens, Yule, when you leave Noel in the hands of a non-Corvino."_

"_Is there supposed to be an insult somewhere?" Timoteo grunted as he raised his sceptre up to block the robot's attempts at his hair, focusing on the robot and not her presence. Noel made a very good distraction. "Because I was doing pretty well until your __**brother **__unleashed this death machine on me!"_

"_Yule! Mistle!" Noel cried out, dashing to hug his siblings. The two elder Corvino chuckled as they hugged him back, completely ignoring Timoteo's cries. "Help! I can't stop that thing!"_

"_That's alright, Noel." A gruff old voice said from the doorway. Timoteo tilted his head and paled. It was the then greatest hitman, Dante, or rather Ace Corvino, the siblings' uncle, older brother of Don Corvino and Timoteo's (as well as his mother's) very __**spartan**__, very __**sadistic**__**home tutor**__. "Think of it as a learning experience for him."_

"_Really?" Noel asked, looking up at his uncle with all the innocence a young child who just let loosed a robot at another person could have. It was disturbingly a __**lot **__of innocence. At the same time Timoteo was shouting 'NO IT'S NOT!'._

"_Yeah. In fact, you should do it more often." The old hitman smirked, pulling out a gun. It glinted ominously under the lamps. He pointed it to Timoteo, who turned as white as a ghost, with a grin. "Now go beat my nephew's robot with your dying will."_

_BANG!_

_What happened next was one of Vongola Nono's most embarrassing memories._

.

-(X)-

.

Timoteo didn't know what he was expecting, but he wasn't prepared for _this._

"Grandpa, this is my new classmate and home tutor, Corvino Noel." Tsuna said, introducing the boy who looked too much like his old friend for comfort. The brunet turned to regard the dark-haired boy, hiding his trepidation well though Nono could still see his nervousness. "Noel, this is my grandpa, the current head of Vongola Enterprises, Vongola Timoteo."

"It's nice to meet you, Noel-kun." It was only due to years of dealing in cutthroat underworld politics that Timoteo managed to hide his shock and smile genially at the boy. As it was, Tsuna's new home tutor reminded Timoteo much of the boy his trusted advisor used to be, before his Family was destroyed and he was taken away. That, in turn, reminded him too much of the friends he lost on Reborn's fourteenth birthday.

"I-It's nice to meet you too, Vongola-sama…" Noel stammered slightly, obviously in shock. Timoteo raised an eyebrow at his sheepish heir. Did Tsuna not tell him he was coming?

"Please, just Timoteo." The elderly man laughed it off. "Vongola-sama sounds too formal."

Noel blinked, almost looking shy. "Alright, Timoteo-san."

The Vongola boss grinned. "So, what are you teaching my grandson before I arrived, Noel-kun?"

The fedora-wearing boy relaxed unconsciously, glad to be back on some familiar ground. He frowned at Tsuna. "No offense, Timoteo-san, but your heir here is a complete _dame._" Tsuna sputtered protests at that, which led to Noel rolling his eyes and him chuckling. "Okay, maybe not a _complete _hopeless case." The Sun Arcobaleno-lookalike amended half-heartedly. "But he still failed a simple quiz!"

"_Simple!?" _Tsuna muttered, annoyed. "There's nothing _simple _about it!"

Noel rolled his eyes again. He crossed his arms and gave the amused Vongola boss and exasperated look. "He got a _30 _in a ten question multiple-choice test. It's _that _bad."

Timoteo chuckled, hiding his unease at how familiar this all seemed. He remembered Reborn once sent him a letter at how hopeless Tsuna during the first weeks of his stay here and how the hitman had blatantly wondered whether he was getting senile in his old age. "I'm sure you can help him get his grades up."

"Of course I can!" Noel said with a smirk, full of confidence that the hitman used to have. "I'm an expert in hopeless cases after all."

And that incited a laugh from Timoteo. _Expert on hopeless cases indeed. _Reborn had turned Tsuna into a fledging boss who realized his potential from the helpless child he used to be. Before that, he had helped Timoteo finished his mafia education, which was never completed due to Dante's death, and was his trusted advisor as he secured the Vongola throne. And before even that, his uncle had started his education and was the Vongola Ottavo's, his mother's, home tutor.

It could be said that the _entire _main members of the Corvino Family was an expert on hopeless cases.

"I'll leave him in your capable hands then." Timoteo chuckled, just as Tsuna cried out and pokémon robots attacked him. The Vongola boss blinked, bewildered, as his heir was chased out of the house by some kind of orange fire-breathing lizard and yellow electric mouse. In front of him, Noel remained seated at the dining table, looking at the chase with amusement and an air of normalcy.

Well, this reminded him of his pre-Don days…

"That's a prototype Charmander and Pikachu." Noel piped up, grinning as Tsuna ran out of the house. "It's what he gets for failing my exams."

Timoteo chuckled awkwardly, suddenly reminded of the days Dante let loose his nephew's robots on him, or when he let Yule and Mistletoe used him for target practice. He nearly always got "…I see…How very…spartan, of you, Noel-kun."

Noel's grin was innocent, but then again, back before Reborn was Reborn and during the days he unknowingly (or not…Timoteo _knew _that he was a bit sadistic at the start. Seemed like a Corvino Family trait) helped his uncle Dante torment (*cough*_teach_*cough*) Timoteo, the Corvino Family's siblings smiles were also innocent…before they launched _hell _on him.

Timoteo hid an inner shudder at his remembrance. The Corvino Family were always so _sadistic_ and _spartan._

_Still…_Timoteo thought as Noel went outside, him following to check on Tsuna. _They were also incredibly loyal and intelligent. Much of Vongola's success is credited to them, because without them sending their best to teach and train every Vongola Don, what kind of Family would the Vongola be?_

"Alright!" Noel shouted, clapping his hands. Tsuna dropped in front of him, panting, while the robotic pokémon slowed to a stop and looked at him. The fedora-wearing boy smirked ominously down at the panting brunet. "Now back to your room we go! We're going to study math next. This time…" Noel's grin turned ominous and dark. It reminded Timoteo of Dante's before he would torture/train him. "…If you fail, I'm going to let Leo have you for his test subject for a week!"

"HIIEEE!" Tsuna screeched. The future mafia boss quickly jumped up and ran to his room. "Ok, ok, I'll study!"

"Ah, umm…" Noel glanced at the Vongola boss, rubbing the back of his head. "If you excuse me, Timoteo-san, I'm going to teach your grandson now."

"Go ahead." Timoteo said with a smile, while praying Tsuna good luck. Noel, though it's not actually confirmed whether he _was _Reborn or not, was too similar to said hitman that he _knew _his teaching methods were going to be hellish. With a small sigh, the Vongola boss drank the tea that Tsuna's mother had prepared him.

_Stay strong Tsuna, it is a Vongola Family tradition to have its bosses train by very sadistic, very spartan tutors._

.

-(X)-

.

"_Do you know why the Corvino and Giglio Nero Families allied themselves with the Vongola?" Dante asked one sunny day as a fourteen-year old Timoteo was relaxing in the Vongola Mansion's large garden._

"_Huh?" Was his intelligent answer. The future Vongola Nono quickly regretted it when a hail of bullets come flying past him. "Aah! No! No, I don't!"_

_The then world's greatest hitman rolled his eyes. "Tch, kids." He said, lighting up a cigarette. "Listen, it started way back, before Vongola Primo made the Family."_

"_What?" Timoteo asked, but got another set of bullets as an answer. By now, he had safely hid himself behind a stone statue._

_His tutor ignored his position. Instead, he brought the cigarette up to his lips and blew wisps of smoke up to the sky. After a moment, he said. "It actually started with Primo's grandfather. You see, his grandpa got three kids. The youngest became the father of Giotto Vongola, your ancestor. The second youngest married into the Giglio Nero Family. The third…"_

"_Started the Corvino Family?" Timoteo asked, a bit timid, peeking from behind the statue just in case there would be more bullets. Luckily, there were no bullets heading his way._

"_Exactly." Dante nodded with approval. "That's why we're allied to the Vongola. That's why we're loyal to you. 'Cause we're all family, see?"_

"…_I understand." Timoteo said. He did get it, really. So apparently they're all related to each other. That explains a lot._

"_Hmm, do you truly get it?" The hitman wondered, pursing his lips. He brought the cigarette down and watched the wisps of smoke contemplatively. "Think, boy, if we share the same blood, to a certain degree at least, what does it __**really **__mean?"_

_Timoteo thought for a few moments. Dante sighed, impatient, and let loose another hail of bullets at the Vongola heir's hiding place without even looking at him. He rolled his eyes when he heard him scream and shouted. "Oi, think faster!"_

_Timoteo would have thought 'grumpy old man' if he wasn't so sure that said old man must be a mind reader. As it was, he kept his mouth shut and thoughts silent. Finally, after a few more moments, he squeaked out. "T-the Corvino and Giglio Nero…y-you guys have the Hyper Intuition?"_

"_Finally…" Dante sighed exasperatedly. "No, we don't. At least not to the extent you and your mother have. But we do have a bit of it. The Giglio Nero has it manifested in their prophetic abilities. In the Corvino however, it's revealed in our observations. We notice around as much as you would when you go into Hyper Dying Will Mode."_

"_What about Flames and others?" Timoteo asked, curious._

_The hitman shook his head. "No, just observation."_

"…_So that's how you guys are able to read minds, then." The future Vongola boss said after a while. He peek his head out of his hiding place again._

_Dante let out a bark of laughter. "Heh, yeah, that's how we do that."_

"_Why are you telling me this, Dante?" Timoteo asked, confused. He could understand the history lesson, but there seemed to be an undercurrent of something more. His instincts were just telling him that something's up._

"_Noel wants out of the mafia." Dante said quietly, and it was a testament to how much the hitman trusted him that he would tell him such a thing. Normally, the man would stay quiet on his Family. "He's ten now, and he wants out. Said he wanted to be a scientist."_

"_And what's wrong with that?" Timoteo wondered aloud. He could hear Dante's exasperated sigh. Obviously, he was missing something._

"_The kid can be whatever he wants. That's not the problem." Dante said, flicking the cigarette. Ash flew and was blown by a breeze. "The problem is that there are people who know the origin of the Corvino-Vongola-Giglio Nero alliance. It's pretty much an open secret that the Vongola has their Flames and Hyper Intuition. Get where I'm going to here?"_

_Timoteo paled. "You think that if Noel went out of the Family's influences, someone would come and get him?"_

_Dante nodded. "Finally showing some brains there. Yeah, we don't have the Vongola's powerful Hyper Intuition, but we have a bit of it anyway from our shared ancestor. Enough to give us an edge at least. If not for that, then people would be after him for his connection to my brother."_

_He knew that there were some sick, sick people who would experiment of live humans to get what they wanted. They would tear and torture and torment to get whatever they wanted. The thought of Noel, who was still a child, still relatively innocent and bright and happy, being in the hands of such people made him feel sick._

"_So what are you going to do then?" Timoteo asked after several moments had passed. He mustered up his courage and stepped out of his hiding place. "Will you and Don Corvino deny him?"_

_Dante looked up at the swirls of smoke. It was no secret in the Five Allied Families that the Corvino loved its members and would fiercely protect their own. It was also no secret that they would willingly let go if that was what one of its members wanted, provided they follow certain rules of course. At the end, the aged hitman snubbed his cigarette on the stone bench he was sitting on and stood up._

"_Come on, kid." He smirked, pulling out his gun and pointing it at him. "Time for some training."_

_Timoteo paled and ran, but he didn't miss the fact that his question was left unanswered._

_It would remain unanswered for the rest of his life._

.

-(X)-

.

"I'm not him."

Timoteo turned to looked at the dark-haired boy who sat down next to him on the open porch that led to the Sawada household's small garden. Hues of orange, warm red and dying yellow light casted long shadows behind them as the sun made its descent. Somehow, the Vongola boss was both surprised and not surprised at his appearance.

"What do you mean, Noel-kun?" Timoteo asked, though he knew who they were talking about.

"Reborn." Noel said, looking down at the shadow plays on his knuckles and avoiding the Vongola Nono's stare. "I heard from Tsuna that he used to be your friend, and that I looked much like him. And early on when we first met, well…" The dark-haired boy shrugged, sighing. "I could tell that you were looking for him too."

"That obvious, hmm?" He asked rhetorically. The boy was very observant, to notice that. Another hint that perhaps his surname wasn't simply a coincidence.

"Yeah, well, I'm observant." Noel replied, chuckling awkwardly. There were so many signs and clues that he was uncomfortable with this conversation. Signs and clues that Reborn would have otherwise hidden.

"I know you're not him." Timoteo said, and the dark-haired boy's head snapped up at that. Timoteo smiled, a little sadly. "But you reminded me of who he used to be, before he became Reborn."

"Oh…" Noel said, perhaps with a little disappointment. He looked away and suddenly seemed to have found a flower interesting.

"Don't worry, I won't put you in his shadow." Timoteo assured him, and enjoyed how the boy looked at him with surprised. He chuckled. "I know you are your own person, Noel-kun, and it would be unfair for you if I do otherwise."

"I…see." Noel said eventually, and while he didn't give any indications on whether he was happy with it, Timoteo could see the beginnings of strong respect for him in his eyes. "Thank you, Timoteo-san."

Timoteo swallowed inaudibly. He remembered seeing that sort of respect before. It was on Dante's face when he or his mother acted like a boss, in Reborn's eyes when he approved an action of his or Tsuna. He chuckled, hiding his unease. "It's not a problem, Noel-kun."

The dark-haired boy glanced behind him. "I should probably head back." He told him, a smirk making its way to his face. "Before Leo completely traumatize Tsuna."

"Go ahead then, Noel-kun." Timoteo laughed, and shook off his foreboding feeling.

The teen grinned, bowed and left. Timoteo watched him leave, remembering that previous look of respect on his face. He thought of the now gone Corvino Family, how they could have been greater if they didn't stay in the shadows of the Vongola Family, how despite blood ties, they didn't really need to go so far and try so hard for them.

And yet they did. They remain loyal and steadfast to the Vongola. Destruction was the reward they gained though. And when Timoteo remembered the rare looks of respect, of _pride_, on his tutors' faces, or the smiles directed at him from its members, his mouth tasted ash.

.

-(X)-

.

_It was Noel's fourteenth birthday and they were celebrating it at the Corvino Estate._

_The party itself was a rather private affair. Only close friends and relatives of the Family could attend. The festivities were merry, however, and the smiles and laughter in the garden more than made up for the lack of guests._

"_Happy birthday, little brother!" Yule cried out happily, swinging an arm around Noel's shoulders. The birthday boy grumbled lightly under his breath, but he was smiling nonetheless. The older brother raised his glass in a toast. "Here's to another year spent well!"_

"_And another good year to come." Mistletoe cheered, smiling as well as she raised her glass. She was beautiful; Timoteo remembered thinking, dressed in a sunny dress with her wide smile and sparkling eyes._

_He distracted himself by focusing on the two playfully bickering siblings in front of him. Timoteo laughed at them and said his congratulations, clinking his glass with the two older Corvino siblings._

"_Thanks everyone." Noel smiled, even though it was clear he was slightly embarrassed to be with them. His siblings laughed. It was, after all, a sibling's job to embarrass their younger brother._

"_Hey, I think it's time you learn how to use a gun." Yule said. "It's about time you learn how to defend yourself anyway."_

_Noel raised an eyebrow at that. "I already know how to protect myself, brother."_

"_Yeah I know." His older brother acknowledged with a nod. "But I mean learn __**more **__than just the basics. Lots of skilled people are out there, you know, and the basics won't be enough to defeat them."_

"_Maybe you're right." Noel hummed, but he didn't actually agree to a lesson, Timoteo noted._

"_Will you stay for the evening party?" Mistletoe asked him, dark eyes hopeful. He was tempted to say 'yes'. "I know you're busy taking on some of your mother's responsibilities as boss and all, but can you stay?"_

_There were two parties to celebrate Noel's birthday. The first was during the day, in the garden, while the other one was inside the estate at night. Timoteo shook his head regretfully. Sincerely, he said. "No, I'm sorry, Mistle, but I can't."_

"_Oh, well…" The female assassin shrugged, hiding her disappointment with a mischievous smirk. He saw it, nonetheless. "That's sad. You're going to miss the cake."_

"_Not if you save some for me?" He grinned at her, attempting to garner another smile off of her. It worked. She laughed._

"_Maybe I will." She said, shaking her head with a smile on her lips. "Are you leaving now or can you stay for a little bit longer?"_

_Timoteo glanced at his watch and cursed inwardly. "Sorry, but I got to leave now…"_

"_That's too bad." Yule said, releasing his brother from the grip he had him in with a grin. He chuckled softly, then turned to look at Timoteo. "Well, tell your mother we said 'hi'."_

"_I will." Timoteo had smiled and nodded as he left, planning on returning there as soon as possible._

_When he did come back, however, it was both too soon and too late. He wasn't prepared to see the wreckage of his friends' home, to witness the burnt bodies of their Family. He was too late to save his friends, to prevent this from happening. He should have come back sooner. He should never have left the party. Should have-should have-should have-_

"_Son." Her mother voice rang out in the din of his own panicked thoughts. A deceptively gently hand was placed on his shoulder. He turned to stare at her, amber eyes boring into eyes of a similar shade. They reflected the flames that had yet to die out. _

"_They're-the Corvino-." He choked on their names. Yule. Noel. __**Mistletoe.**__ His eyes stung with tears. He couldn't believe it. No, not to the seemingly invincible Corvino. He closed his eyes, breathed in and out, and just as Dante thought him, let his Hyper Dying Will Mode take over. The fiery anger and grief in his heart turned to ice cold fury. "Who did this?"_

_His mother tilted her head, eyes moving from him, to the impassive face of their tutor. Dante had yet to move from where he stood gazing at the ruins of his Family home. Her mouth was set into a tight line, and when she spoke, her voice was as hard and cold as steel._

"_That, we shall find out." She promised, eyes a hard gold. "And when we do they shall pay for their sins."_

_Timoteo nodded, but even years into the future, the Vongola had failed to completely eradicate the Estraneo Family._

.

-(X)-

.

"What do you think, Grandpa?" Tsuna questioned as they sat down in the privacy of his room. Outside, night had fallen and the moon was reaching its zenith. The people in the Sawada household, save for them and Lal Mirch, were asleep in their beds.

"He reminds me of Reborn before he became Reborn." Timoteo said, knowing that Tsuna should at least understand a bit of his words. Lal had told Tsuna of his tutor's past, albeit a very condensed version of it.

"Is he…?" Tsuna's face was hopeful, so very, very hopeful, and Timoteo hated to break that hope.

Instead, Timoteo replied carefully. "All evidence points to the Iris not being the Arcobaleno." _To Noel not being Reborn, _went unsaid, and when he glanced at Lal, mentally added, _to Alex not being Colonello. _"There is no way a person can literally live two separate lives at the same time, especially when they're under the Arcobaleno Curse."

"But his name is the same!" Tsuna cried out. Next to them, Lal's knuckles went white. The brunet insisted. "That _has _to count for something."

"Perhaps it is not a coincidence." Yet if it wasn't a coincidence, then what else _could _it be? Noel cannot be Reborn. "However, from evidence gathered by your Mist Guardian, and also from what I have seen myself, Noel is not Reborn."

A hurt look flashed on Tsuna's face, before resignation settled in. The brunet looked down at his hands on his lap. Lal spoke quietly in the ensuing silence.

"He acts like Noel Corvino." She said quietly, and the use of the Western naming style did not go unmissed to either Vongola. Tsuna peered up at her curiously. "What are the chances of Noel Corvino being Corvino Noel?"

"Are you implying time travel then?" Timoteo wondered softly. "Are you saying that, perhaps, the younger version of Reborn somehow managed to come to the future, gain the company of six others that looked like the Arcobaleno, and managed to grow up here in Japan without ever wondering the differences in time and getting back home?"

Lal frowned. "No, you're right. It was a stupid idea. If he _did _time travelled, he would have immediately tried to contact his Family, and when he found out that it's destroyed, the Vongola."

"Stranger things had happened." Tsuna murmured softly.

Timoteo gazed at his heir sadly. "True, Tsunayoshi-kun, but I'm afraid this one is very unlikely."

He released a small sigh at their downcast expression. He, too, was rather disappointed by the fact that Noel was evidently not Reborn, despite all the eerie similarities. He, however, had grown old in a world where death was expected nearly every day and had accepted Reborn's death as easily as a man with his position and past could be.

"…Alright." Tsuna said, almost quietly. The brunet slowly held his chin up high, gazing steadily at him. "Alright. I may not accept it now, but there are other matters I wish to discuss with you, Grandpa."

Timoteo gazed back at the brown-amber eyes and nodded. The following conversation was on Family matters and the impending threats to the Vongola. Somewhere along the line, as the night wore on, Timoteo wondered.

Since the last time he met him in person, Tsuna had grown up considerably.

.

-(X)-

.

Somewhere, across the ocean and half a world away from where Timoteo bid goodnight to Tsuna and returned to his hotel, inside an opulent mansion, two people cloaked in hoods and shadows entered a large, lavishly decorated office. Here, the pair stopped in front of a mahogany desk, where their boss sat with the back of his leather chair to them.

"Report." Their boss said. And the two dark figures did.

"Excellent." Their boss was pleased. They could hear the smirk on his lips. The younger of the two frowned while the older carefully controlled his expression. The boss continued. "Does the Vongola know about your hackings?"

"Yes." The eldest said, voice strong and clear. His next words held sarcasm. "I'm afraid that we aren't accustomed yet to today's technology."

"What a pity." He said, but it was faked, they knew. The boss sighed. "Well, I supposed it's to be expected, what's with you two trapped in an ice box for-"

"Careful." The younger of the two intoned, voice laced with soft yet deadly killing intent. "We may have a common enemy, but insult us and our work and you'll find yourself suddenly without our help."

The one who found them, who led his Family into discovering who they were, resuscitated them and told them of their Family's destruction at the hands of the Vongola, chuckled. He was unafraid of them, they knew. This time, the younger one managed to keep her face carefully blank.

"But then where will you be?" Their temporary boss questioned, voice deceptively soft. He spun his chair to face them, hands steeple under his head with his elbows on the desk. The smirk was still on his face. "And where will your revenge for the Vongola go, Mistletoe Corvino, Yule Corvino?"

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-(X)-

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**Wow. Can't believe I just wrote that, everything in this chapter, nearly in Timoteo's POV. I **_**still **_**can't believe I made the Vongola Nono harbour a small crush on Reborn's older sister. That's just…umm…wow. Kay. The stuff my mind makes up, eh? (. _ .)**

**I really, really, **_**really **_**love Pokémon. It shows, huh? :D**

**I have no idea what to put in the **_**Fun Facts **_**that will appear later. Usually, it's trivia bout stuff in the story, but you guys already know some stuff from Canon. So what can I add? Ne, what bout I picked some random trivia, would you like that? A little learning never hurts anyone! ;D**

**Fun Facts:**

**- The Estraneo Family, in Canon, was destroyed by Rokudo Mukuro. As we all know, the Estraneo Family were brutal, having a hand in human experimentations and such, and was persecuted by most Families. That persecution drove the Family to invent special weapons (Posession Bullet) and using children as guinea pigs. However, such brutality shouldn't be so surprising in the underworld that is the mafia, so for me the persecution seemed a bit strange. So I think, there must be an extra reason as to why they were so hated. Here's my reason: the Vongola found out that they were the ones who destroyed a very close allied Family, and since the Vongola is the greatest Family on Earth, everyone followed their example in hating them.**

- _'_**_Ace'_ as most knows, means _'number one'_ or_ 'the best'_. Ace Corvino was the best hitman in the world when before his nephew, Reborn, took the title. As a surname, _'Ace'_ also means _'noble'_. It has connotations of_ 'superiority'_ from the fact that ace is the playing card with the highest face value.**

- _'_**_Dante'_ is a name of Spanish, Italian and Latin origin. It means _'lasting'_ or _'enduring'_. At the time the Corvino Family was destroyed, Ace 'Dante' Corvino was the only member of the Family alive, at least before the Vongola found out about Reborn (and before this chapter). Dante Alighieri, one of the greatest poet of all time and writer of the **_**Divine Comedy, **_**full name is actually Durante, with 'Dante' being his nickname.**

…**I actually picked the name 'Dante' because it reminds me of that **_**Devil May Cry **_**protagonist. Then I found out that it actually fits him, what's with him being one of the last Corvino alive (around Timoteo's younger years though. He died before Canon starts). Likewise, I picked 'Ace' without much thought, thinking that, 'hey, he's the best hitman before Reborn. That's a good name for him, I think'. Then I looked it up and saw its links to 'noble' and 'superiority' and well, that's serendipity.**

**Please review! ^ _ ^**

**The Storyteller of Dreams**


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